Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Animal Research

Animal Research

As my idea involves a black dog weighing down its owner to show depression getting stronger for the sufferer, i am going to have to do a lot of character designs showing how the character develops, in size, age and how it gets angrier or grumpier with the owner. This is a hard task to do in the time frame but as an added task i have made myself, would be i have never really attempted to draw animals at all, i have steered clear so they always seemed too difficult but i am going to push myself in an attempt to show how the black dog is a good term from Winston Churchill to represent depression.

When i first thought of where to get ideas for learning how to draw dogs was from 101 Dalmatians and how they needed to draw them from puppies to adults which is what i need to do so i started researching into how they designed them from the start to the finished designs.

 Here you can see where they looked at all the angles and points of views of the puppies so they knew when it came to animating, what they looked like from various angles and some of the positions they needed to animate.

This image above is one i thought was good for the angle as i am drawing a small puppy pulling on the owners trouser leg so i needed to see what they looked like sitting down.

Here i also thought i could use the two to learn the basic shapes people use when first starting to learn how to draw an animal as i need to learn how the body moves with their legs and how they flow as a whole being. This is why i will use these for initial sketches to build up the characters and rough forms.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Finalised Story & Setting Ideas

Finalised Story & Setting Ideas

As my story for the animation show how someone with depression has a weight that follows them around, i would like to show this over a few different scenes to show what it is like for them in daily life. Below are some images that i thought i could show of the person being in and interacting in so that it shows that, depression itself, can occur at any time and in manny different scenarios. I defiantly needed to show someone in bed, as it is hard for people with depression to get up in the morning as this is when depression can be at its worst for some.

I also wanted to show the person reaching out at the end of the animation, this is why i wanted to show the person being at a desk or near a phone that they can reach out and call for help from Samaritans.

For the finalised animation, i am going to have the main male character, to be getting weighed down more and more at every scene. As this is happening, i want the depression to be a materialised creature that also grows to signify that the feeling of depression, is an actual feeling of weight and sadness.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- In Between Animation

In Between

This animation was showed to be by a peer after i had discussed my idea for my animation with them. This is a French animation that i really love the style of. It is a very sketchy animation that shows block colours, paired with thin black lines to show the outlined shapes.

I loved this short video as it shows exactly what it is like to have anxiety and to struggle day to day with the feeling. They have done what i am wanting to do, which is show an animal as the form of weight that people with depression go though. Just like anxiety feels a rushing stress around them in different situations, which is why the crocodile is moving fast and jumping everywhere.

I would love to do an animation of this style in the future as it looks smooth and delicate, whereas in the past some of mine have been a bit rougher and less sleek. I would like to change this and take this form of animation on board for next year to try it.

When speaking to people about my idea of the dog representing depression, they didn't feel the message would get across. Yet if you watch this animation, i clocked on straight away. Therefore i feel it will really be effective to the people that suffer from the problem, not everyone. This is fine however as it is Samaritans that is there to help people suffering not everyone. This means my target audience will get the message i am trying to portray.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Chirchill's Black Dog

Churchill's Black Dog

When depression was less spoken of as a real problem, Winston Churchill called it his 'Black Dog' which has been my main inspiration for my campaign animation.

Not many people know about this being a term for depression, but Winston Churchill explains it as, he feels his depression is like a dog. Always with him but some days far away, yet sometimes it is towering over him and weighing him down with its size. 

This is like many peoples depression. Some days are good and some days are bad, but depression doesn't just go away, it just is far away but could return whenever it feels.

This is why i feel i will use this way of explaining depression to people in my animation as i feel it is easy to tell what the story is about is i show a dog growing in size and weighing someone down. 

This is why i like the design at the side as it shows how depression could get worse for some  in other ways, where they get angrier or more lost. I hope to show people this term so they can understand how depression works as most think when it is gone it is gone but that isn't the case for most people.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Mood Board

Mood Board

While researching different forms of depression i found many forms of inspiration and ideas for my animation, many become obvious just from looking at this board. How depression tends to be shown in black and white, showing isolation and just the general feeling of being lost which is what i want to show in my animated campaign.

After my last project i wanted to show more clearly what i was taking from these images and what they are there to show so i have included text on my mood board so people can see what i am wanting to show easier and straight away. This was things like the colours being shown and what Samaritans is about but also the images of inspiration from the story of the black dog which i feel i want to use in my animation as it is a term some may not have heard of but really helps to make people understand the feeling and weight of the illness.

After doing this board i feel my ideas have strengthened in my head of what i am wanting to produce and what i am going to do in terms of the look, style and story of my animated campaign to best show how samaritans can help.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting-Mind Maps

Mind Maps

After getting this brief, I felt I needed to look into building ideas from all of the tasks. This was why i decided to do multiple mind maps. I started them in order so i could easily work through each task, this also meant putting the campaigns task to the bottom as i was thinking of doing this idea, but wanted to see what ideas i could generate from the others. For idents if i wanted to do this task i felt i would choose E4 and National Geographic Channel. These go from wacky and wild animation from E4 to nature and doing beautiful stunning animation of environments. This is why i liked these two options as they were completely different.

For Titles, i looked into different books i could possible do an intro for. As soon as i was given the brief none came to mind so i found it difficult to find books that i could do. This is when i looked for famous books so i could make sure that if i were to do an animated introduction, it would fully explain what was going on in the book. Here are the books i thought of.

When looking into Campaigns i had many ideas of things to do for the Samaritans organisation. I wanted to show people different ways people with depression felt. It isn't always easy to tell if someone has depression so this is what i wanted to show. This is how i got the ideas of someone going about normal activities but feeling depression on the inside or being weighed down by something. By doing this mind map i found an idea i would like to use for my animation.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Samaritans

Samaritans is a helpline for people to reach out and talk to someone about their problems and worries. To do an advert about a topic like this you need to know how to send the message without going to far or losing what it is about. Samaritans is about helping people who really need it but wont necessarily always want to come forward.

The problem with depression, it isn't always seen as a mental illness. Many think it can be just switched off or ignored but it weighs down on people till they dont even think they can move. This is why i feel i really need to show what it is like living with depression to an audience who might not fully understand what it is like.

Samaritans is all about helping people take back control of their lives which can be hard depending on how bad the sufferer is feeling but there is always hope for people to get back in charge of how they live and what goes on in their own lives.

There are many different ways people show what the feeling of depression is for them and i have found a few comic strips that show what it is like for different people. This is why i feel it is going to be hard to do an animation showing what it happening to the person when depression effects everyone differently but that a challenge i am wanting to take on and show people the struggles some people have.

After looking at these it really shows what the reality of depression is for people and what its like facing each day having this internal problem. I really hope to make an animation that could make a difference if showed to someone with depression or suicidal thoughts and give them an outreach that is Samaritans and makes them believe there is people to talk to and help them.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Chosen Advert

Samaritans Campaign

After looking at the three briefs i found the campaign to be the one i was most interested in pursuing, this was after finding out about Samaritans and the work they do as i really wanted to show an animation that had a purpose and message to the public. Oxfam was another one that could be chosen, they help people all around the world with poverty and helping people to have better lives in 3rd world countries. This was also an interesting charity but i found i was leaning more towards Samaritans as i have a more personal connection to the foundation which i think i can use to enlighten people on what it is like to be suffering with depression in todays society.

The brief is to raise awareness in the charity with a 30 second long animation that is precisely that time constraint as they are allotted exactly 30 seconds per advert. They did not specify medium or technique for the project so i will be able to experiment with different looks to get the best one for my brief.

Samaritans did ask in the brief that the end animation must be sympathetic to the viewers as the organisation is there to help and i wouldn't want to offend or make a campaign that was useless and didn't have an effect on the viewers that wasn't positive or to show the illness properly. I think there is also a boundary that shouldn't be crossed as some end up too graphic and sad for people to watch which i dont want, i just want to show enough for people to understand my message.

The last thing they ask is that the contact details and logo be visible for 5 seconds at least as this is to show people the number they can call if they need help so i will try to show these for as long as possible so the audience can write them down in time if needed.

Studio Brief 2- A Tale in the Sting- Brief

 A Tale in the Sting Brief

You will have to select and complete one of the given studio briefs necessitating investigation into technique, process and audience as well as social, political and ethical consideration in order to ensure that your finished work promotes its message in the correct context.

Once again you will be expected to follow the standard production workflow of Pre-Production ➝ Production ➝ Post Production in order to complete your project.

The final animation must adhere exactly to the requirements of the selected brief and utilise any assets that may be provided for the brief.

time management

This animation brief is to further our understanding of the principles of animation and working to a more precise brief. This module has three tasks that are a choice, you can choose one and develop it into an animation. The three choices are completely different and all asking for something the other is not which made the choice to choose one very difficult.

Idents

The Idents are to promote a channel and are on screen for quite a short period of time so they need to be able to pack a lot into the 10 seconds this brief is asking them to. The channels are; E4, Disney Junior, Hallmark Channel, National Geographic Channel. So all very different channels and for all different audiences. This brief also asked for two animations so the task of this is to do two very unrelated and different final animations that are both 10 seconds exactly.

Titles

For this brief it asked for an animated title sequence of a book that was to be turned into a movie, this movie could have already been created but the title asked to be made must be different completely. I was really considering this task as it left a lot of freedom to do whichever book you wanted but after i saw the next brief i decided to do a campaign instead. I think this would have been one i would have also liked but i found i could do better things and had more ideas for the campaign. This task asked for a 30 second animation to be put at the start of the movie and all the time allowed is 30 seconds so it needs to be exact or it wouldn't be used or money would need to be spent to cut sections.

Campaign

This was the brief i chose and is to create a campaign about two charities, Oxfam and Samaritans. Both very different and would create very different result so i am going to research the two and find which will be best for me but i feel i am gravitating more towards Samaritans and that is the charity that swayed me to choose this brief over the others. This again asked for a 30 second animation advert to really show what they are about and how they are there to help people who need it.

Studio Brief 1- Another Dimension- Maya

Maya:

 Keep on Trucking and Walk Cycle

Maya is a very difficult form of technology software to get used to and learn. I had not tried it till this module so it proved very hard to grasp. Apart from doing small tasks to get used to the buttons and trying out small object making, i had never tired to make anything, but as a task we were set to make a truck and an object of our choice. 

In the early stages of the truck, i struggle more with understanding what i needed to do for the front to create the slanted edge. The rest i managed to do in time but it took a long time to grasp what i needed to do and what stages needed following.

Here are the screenshots of the stages i took to create the final truck.

Sadly after doing this truck and completing it, i rendered it out in images from all angles and coloured it green. Yet it didn't save and neither did the images. I couldnt find them anywhere on my computer and didn't have time to redo the whole truck again, but hopefully these images will show how i did the truck and how it went.

As my extra object of choice, i designed a bottle of spray as it has many small cylinders within the structure that need building up to create the final piece. I found this a lot easier than following instructions, as i needed to think of the steps myself and find my own way to creating the final design. Here is the final piece next to a picture of the image i was modelling from and the item i tried making. In the future i do see myself using Maya again for either making scenes or items because it would be a great learning experience and would give a whole new look to the animation i produce.

This is my attempt at a walk cycle in Maya. I found this task very difficult as i couldn't grasp, the key body parts to move them, while trying to keyframe each movement. This made me very stressed, therefore making the task take longer and you can see in the end result, that it isn't as clean as i would have liked. I went for a more exaggerated movement overall so the character has more of a quirky personality just from the few seconds i created. This let me understand just how much the walk can tell about the character and their personalities. This also gave me a glimpse into what Maya can be used for and what could be accomplished in the next year.

i would like to retry this task in the future or over the holidays becuase i really did struggle with this and i wanst happy that i couldnt produce a full walk cycle. This would be a great thing to learn though as it is learning walk cycles, as well as being able to learn Maya.

Study Task 2- Environmental Storytelling- Royal Armouries

Royal Armouries

My final environment to study is the Royal Armouries . This museum is filled with guns and battle items and clothing so there was lots that i could have seen and drawn which is why i did quite a few sketches on my way around.

As i wanted a good scene i couldn't just sketch some items, so i looked at the place from wide shots so i could see shapes and angles of the way the whole place was laid out. This ended up letting me see lots of different perspectives and geometric angles that i wouldn't have been able to try if i was doing all close ups.

Here are the thumbnails i sketched of the scenes i am wanting to sketch. There are two from the same section and the rest were from when i found good shots from around the museum.
I have decided to do this location in biro as it gives a good scribbly effect that goes well with my style, i can also get some good shading and highlights with this medium that i cant with some other mediums.

This first sketch is of the balcony that ran right down the centre of the building, separating the sides, apart from some small bridges used to cross over. This let me get some amazing pictures of perspective as i could see above and below the level i was in front of which really added to the overall effect and look of this sketch.

I took this picture thinking of the rule of thirds, this meant i could use the horse and night holding the lance as the main focus. Which turned out really well as the windows are all tilting to add to the effect that the scene is getting further away and that there is only a small balcony connecting the two halves of the museum.

This is another one of the sketches i have done of the same location. This was from the bridge on the next level. This really showed another type of perspective as i was looking down. This still let me show how the building was laid out as the windows are still showing they are getting further away as well as having the horse and night as the main focus again.

This is the next scene i have done a sketch of. It is a scene i am looking down on and is of a battle display and some display cabinets of armour. When i was walking around the Royal Armouries, this was a scene i really wanted to draw as it is different and gives a different perspective, like the viewers are watching the character walk through the scene from above.

I do find that biro lets me get a lot of detail into each scene which is why i do like using this medium, but it is difficult to add in different tones just with one pen. This is why i was surprised how well some of the scenes turned out when i experimented in making the tones and shading all different.

This is the final image of my sequence from the Royal Armouries. This was a room with more modern weaponry. This was a hard scene for me to do as there was a lot of wood that was the same colour. Yet i needed to change the effect so they can all be distinguished. This is why i am happy with the results overall as it is a completely different scene from all of the others but still fits in with the location and looks like it is part of the same location.

Overall i would use this medium again yet i would make sure to leave a lot of time for it as it did take me a long time to do these scenes to have this overall look. I would also use it for creating texture as fine liner tends to look smooth whereas this medium can add textures and tones to different items.

Study Task 2- Environmental Storytelling- Abandoned Building

Abandoned Building

As my second location i have chosen the abandoned building on the outside of Leeds. As i was drawing this building i realised just how hard it was going to be because of its shapes and the detail needed to make it look realistic. 

Here i have done thumbnails so i can see the dynamic shapes and angles that this building has and from the positions i have decided to draw it from.

I have tried to draw angles from someone almost walking right round the building as both ends looked different and there were loads of angles i wanted to include.

For this i am using a fine liner as i love this medium as it lets me get so much detail in such small spaces, this is why this building will be very detailed overall, because of the medium.

This was my first sketch which you can see as i was a lot more timid with how dark i wanted the building to be. I did a close shot as it shows the structure up close whereas the rest are from a wider view.

This let me show how rundown the building was as the metal has become rusted and the stones are dirty so it was good to show this when i was closer up, drawing each element closer.

This was when i walked further back to show how the detail and dirt are harder to see. This was also so i could show how the circular bace looks as the entrance and how it all curves around that point.

After realising how dark i was able to go it was at this point the rest looked more confident with being bold whereas the first one i held back. This was a learning point as in the future, i will try to approach the drawings with more of a view of how the colour could be bolder and show more detail.

This was a very different view of the front that shows how long the building is and the angle is is at. I really liked doing this sketch as i could really show the angles and perspectives within the structure.

For this piece the hardest part was drawing enough detail to show what was happening because if you do too much you can lose the overall effect but i think because of the curved front structure, this added enough for me to do less for the background, as the main focus was the foreground.

This angle looks straight at the building so you cant see behind it which adds a very good effect as the front looks flat but the curved structure still looks curved so it looks like its coming forward, this is also helped by the building next to that one as it shows how big the building is but also the street looks far away and therefore not flat.

This is the final image i have done that doesn't particularly look right because of the weird shapes of the building but i still like how the curved front still stands out and comes forward so much. If i had done the very left as a straight line it would have extended the side to make it look correct but from where i was, the angle seemed to create an illusion that looks odd overall.

I really loved using this medium as you can get so much detail even if it does take longer than pencil. I will use this medium in the future to create bold lines and dark contrasts with the grey scratching so it can really show the environments in full detail.

Study Task 2- Environmental Storytelling- Post Office

Post Office

For the post office scene i had already done a sketch of the female statue so i had found a fondness for the maroon pencil so i decided to use that for this scene as it is easy to add in small details and small amounts of shading.

Here i have done 5 thumbnails of the angles i want from the buildings as they are dynamic and really show how i would move and character through the scene and into the building which is why i chose this location as i really took the characters flow into consideration.

These were quickly done on the scene so i could decide on the spot before i took pictures to capture the detail needed for such an architectural building.

This is the first angle that shows the front as well as some of the side so i can see how much the building goes back into the background and how long it is. This is the reason for using this pencil as it really does show how backgrounds and the scene around the building, with the statue i have done a close up of.
When i was drawing in my sketchbook the lines were straight yet when i scanned them in, they looked a bit wonkier overall. I also realised when i first thought it was finished, that i needed shading to separate the front from the side so i added this in subtly on the side.

This is from if the character were to walk around to more of a front view. I wanted this angle as you can see more of the detail from the building while still showing a slanting building showing it is from a different angle that makes the scene less flat.

I have shaded the windows so the building adds depth  so it seems like you can almost see inside. I have drawn more detail on the statues so they are more distinguished in shapes so as the character gets closer, more can be scene in detail.

This is from if the character has walked around to get to the door as if to go in. I have placed the statues in the centre frame so your eye is drawn towards the door. This is adding to the scene layout because of this.

I have also been able to add, again, more detail so more can be seen from the shapes and angles of small sections of the structure. I have also shown shading on the windows so it looks like light is coming from a certain side, which also shows in the stature shadows.

Here is a very close up view of the door so the character is about to go in so i have fully shown them going through the scene and getting to their location even if i did this is 4 images not 5 so my next one will be a far away shot of the entire scene. This also shows what the statues are of and more from the door and shading.

This has really helped me think about how people move and how the building changes throughout.

This is the final image i have done of this sequence. This is a shot from very far away so it was hard to see the details within this scene which is why i have done it in a more sketchy basic style, so that i can still get all the forms but not have to show all of the small details or it would end up too time consuming overall.