I have just finished my Cubey animation task for Andy. The challenge was:

"Cubey is standing confidently in the
centre stage. Suddenly s/he hears a 
noise out of shot. Animate your 
character reacting to that sound"

Below is the final version of it. It is roubly 28 frames long. I have made my character hide from the first sound and jump in fight at the sound of the second. I am pleased with the results. I just need to work on keeping the



Below is my bouncing ball attempt with squash and stretch. I found it difficult to have the ball rotate as well as squash and stretch. If you look at the way the ball bounces and rotates at the same time it does not look believable. I will need to work on this in the future.

Below is my my ball with a happy character trait. I enjoyed working on this and found the whole process very organic. Notice that I have made the squash and stretch look more believable but because the ball bounces on the spot I found it much easier. I am very pleased with this one. I just need to work on making the squash and strech more realistic and maybe a few more frames of anticipation. Overall I am pleased.

The animation course is starting to take off. I have also joined 'Flex' the student newspaper for which I am head of design as well as working on the quarterly magazine 'SafetyFocus'. Both will look good on my CV. But with regards to the animation course I am really getting into it. We had a lecture with Andy Wyatt today about the remaining principals of design. Being taught the principals in parts and having focused assignments was a good idea (nice one Andy). It makes it easier to take in. 

"Performance"

(emotion)

Body Language: using key poses to convey emotion such as the way politicians use body language to convey power, control and honesty.

Silhouetted Techniques: if the pose is effective it will work even as a silhouette.

Exaggeration: adding emphasis to certain character traits conveys what the character is feeling

Line of Action: just like in graphic design the use of lines is important as lines can convey direction, movement, power, stillness. When used with reference to character poses the line of action allows the animator to control where the main focus of a scene is.

The Assignment:

We were set a new assignment today for which we have bring a cube like character to life. The deadline for this project is Tuesday, 26 October 2010. I think I will enjoy this.

"Cubey is standing confidently in the 
centre stage. Suddenly s/he hears a 
noise out of shot. Animate your 
character reacting to that sound"

We also watched 'Waltz with Bashir' today. It is an animated movie based on the graphic novel of the same name. I thought visually it was stunning. The use of lighting, the different weights of line, the muted colour palette, fragmented storytelling, even the way it was directed. The whole this was impressive. I just with we had an english version as subtitles detract form the content. I heard the whole this was made in Flash. I dont know how true this is but if it is that is a feat in itself.

"The use of lighting, the different weights of line, the muted colour palette, fragmented storytelling, even the way it was directed"

I would love to make a film like 'Waltz with Bashir'. I like real and serious stuff and deal with real issues. I am aware that comedy works very well in animation but you cant complain the medium is not taken seriously when we make comedies instead of face up to real issues.

"...you cant complain the medium 

is not taken seriously when we make 

comedies instead of face up to real issues."

Jumping Man

Below is my my attempt at giving an object life in a jump experiment. I feel as though them movement is quite elegant almsot like a ballet dancer. I am looking forward to experimenting with the ball in maya.



Fire Fall Trailer

I saw this trailer after following a link on motionongrapher.com. It is the trailer for a video game called Fire Fall created by Blur Studio. I think the animation and effects are amazing. I would love to be able to create something like this. The character designs are solid and I like the way it has been directed. Sit back and enjoy:

Fist Animation Assignments

 As I mentioned in my previous post our assignment was to use the Animation Principals we had gone over with Andy Wyatt to make a football and bowling ball enter the frame and come to a halt. I found the task a challenge. At first I was not thrilled at the prospect of making a ball bounce with 2D hand drawn animation but now I see its purpose. The key in understanding the fundamentals. Now that I see how things work in 2D moving to 3D and applying the principals will be easier. Below are my attempts at both the bouncing ball and the bowling ball.

"The key in understanding the fundamentals."

Bouncing Ball

Like I said this task was challenging. I found a book called the Animators Bible that came in very handy. It shows a bouncing tennis ball over several frames and takes into consideration timing, spacing, weight and squash and stretch. It was perfect for this task. Once I got into the bouncing ball I found it quite enjoyable.

Bowling Ball

Digital Animation Course

I find the course took of to a slow start. It felt a lot more relaxed when compared to other courses. But thats not such a bad thing. I shear a flat with student on Film, Graphic Design, Advertising, Geography and Mining courses; they have all been bombarded with projects from the first week where as I have had a bit more freedom.

"...the course took of to a slow start. It felt a lot more relaxed when compared to other courses. But thats not such a bad thing."

But here is the catch. There always is one. We had Monday and Tuesday free but on Wednesday we relived our first lecture and first project from Andy Wyatt. The lecture was about the Principals of Animation. Timing, Weight and Squash & Stretch. Our assignment was to:

1) Animate a  football falling into frame and stopping.
2) Animate a bowling ball falling into the frame and stopping.

The deadline for this project is Tuesday 12th October at 11:59pm. This is because the work has to be uploaded to The Learning Space as well as our blogs. I am looking forward to this project as I have not really experimented much with 2D animation. This should be a challenge.

But that was just Wednesday. On Thursday we had Animation Theory & History with Ann Owen in the cinema. I enjoyed this lecture as it went into Representation & Semiology; a topic I have looked into when I was moving a graphic design direction last year. I find semiotics interesting and having a previous understanding of this will give me a head start.

"I find semiotics interesting and having a previous understanding of this will give me a head start."

Looking into stereotypes in animation will be interesting. I am already concerned about what I see on children's television. I understand that stereotypes are heavily relied on for children's cartoons as they are the most effective means of communicating to the audience what the characters are about. This is why they work so well. However these children's cartoons reinforce the stereotype resulting in generation after generation with slightly skewed perspective on gender roles, race, age etc. Animators, especially for children's television, must look into both the sociological and psychological implications of their work on their audience. I feel many animators underestimate the power that this medium gives them. We are shaping the minds of the future.

My biggest issue would have to race. I am African Caribbean, my father from Jamaica and my mother with Jamaican parents but british born like myself. I feel as though the representations of race as well as the lack of diversity, not just for the African Caribbean community but for other is an issue. this something I plan to challenge in my work.

"I feel many animators underestimate the power that this medium gives them. We are shaping the minds of the future."

Overall I am looking forward to three years of the Digital Animation course and i cant wait to get going. its going to be a great year.

-Omari McCarthy