Animation Production: Research

The work below is is not mine. This the analysis and research of short animation pieces

SLM was created by a studio called Tendrill for a pitch for Funcheez SLM is is a character driven piece. It follows three humanoid characters that after pressing a button become the archetypal characters of genres, thrown into the three conflicts that most stories conform to; man vs man, man vs himself and man vs nature. The flat, horizontal composition of the characters was chosen because any use of depth here would result in a more dramatic composition, the flat, horizontal layout of the characters seem to lend itself well to the comedy of the piece. This piece work well because each time the button is pressed they characters are essentially thrown into a smaller story, or gag, while in the middle of a larger one. A story within a story. The characters press the button, seems to begin with peace, conflict is created, before it can be resolved they press the button again. The audience know what will happen but wait for the conflict that is created in the scene.

The characters represent three different personalities; small, medium and large  (S/M/L) 

Man vs Man

Man vs Nature

Man vs Himself

'Heart' is by Jamie Caliri and is an advertisement for airline company. The piece makes use of a desaturates color palette and makes use of some interesting compositional choices. The use of texture within the piece something we discusses together as we would like to incorporate texture into our work as it can give it a more human touch. The thing to notice is how the story is communicated only through visual and music and that every shot either revela something about the characters or moves the story along.

Frame within the frame, central position of the characters and use of color 

Depth of field and use of shape. From this shot we know the two characters relationship and how they are connected.

The rule of theirs is used here in conjunction depth of field. Bird is symbolises her journey, freedom, 

The frame within the frame. The frame does not have to be the same as the window into the story it can be any shape that draws our eyes towards the focal point.

The frame within the frame of the camera is used again here.

This shot aslo conforms to the rule of thirds for more aesthetically pleasing composition as they near each other.

Stopover is a short animated film by Neil Stubbings. It caught my attention because of its use of textures and and unusual color palette. Notice the painterly, almost water color look they have. You can almost see the brush strokes which reminds me that I need to get my head around texture painting and UV mapping/ unwrapping.

The color palette and textures are what won me over.

This is the music video for 'Turn' form the band 'Amongst Giants' directed by Mark Wagner.