Summer 2018: Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging 1 - 1

Toolkit 2: Submission

Life Drawing

Digital Sculpting

Analogue Sculpting

Character Design

Weightlifting Animation

Collaboration Animation
(The two characters in the back of the hairdressing skit)

Facial Animation

Infographic

Pipeline 1

Lighting & Rendering 2

Toolkit 2: Pipeline 1 - Rigging 3,4

To show my work setting restrictions/limits I have taken screenshots of the rig at some of its max positions and included the channel box in the shot.

Toolkit 2: Digital Sculpting - Scene

I couldn't use my ptex textures in Maya, but I have added materials and rendered some of my mudbox objects with Arnold. I have included images of my objects as I created them in Mudbox in this post, to show my work for this class.

Toolkit 2: Character - Production Bible Update

Premise: Reflective Statement

Being able to come up with and develop an idea from scratch has been amazing, difficult and intense. The intensity came from several place. One of the main things that has been a lot is covering something so personal. I found it emotionally draining, but also emotionally exciting to explore ways of sharing something so personal with an audience. Also, developing an idea without a given starting point is a different way to make something than previous projects. There has been a lot to learn about what makes a strong premise and how to develop that premise in a way that keeps that.

I have taken some of the steps I mentioned in my presentation and added in points about changing the narration, adding sound design and thinking about all the different assets I will need. I need to consider what I need to do next and as the project goes on to make this film work.

- Continue working on animatic - stronger shots/expressions/timing

- Play around with different narration options

- Start exploring sound design

- Begin thinking about all the different things I will need to model and rig, start organising and considering which things will need a full character and which parts will just need part of the character.

- Name my film. I really feel like there is something simple but effective just out of reach here, and digging deeper in to the narration will help me find it.

I still need to work on planning project tasks more efficiently, in terms of accurately estimating the time and effort a task will take. For example, I drew my storyboard/animatic out in a strange order, drawing out all the body first and adding in faces afterwards. This made it take longer and also made it harder to create good expressions. Also, formatting the storyboard took longer than I expected and I need to properly consider the time needed for certain tasks and the best order to do them in.

I often do things one at a time as well, focusing too much on one task, which can make something I enjoy seem tedious. I have let film reviews and the magazine article slip and know that it is important to look at what makes other films work and to be aware of the industry. I think this is to do with poor planning and getting too stuck on one aspect of a project. There are lots of different aspects to making an animated short and I need to plan my time in a way that allows me to get stuck into something, but also give the work and myself a break by working on other parts of a project. 

I have a big job to do with sound design, which is something I know I haven't put huge amounts of time into in previous projects. I do enjoy sound design and I think this is a symptom of the problems I mentioned surrounding planning.

I am pleased with my art direction on this project, there were times I was unsure of how it would play out and if it would come together. I often go for simple designs with lots of colour and I was worried about sticking with the same thing, but I think this worry came from looking at what other people are doing and what I thought I would be doing when I was younger. I really love bright colours and simple designs and am often drawn to this way of representing things. I feel like I am developing a style now. For this project in particular, the intensity of the colours and the first aid vibe does help me make the impact I want to make, as well as just being something I enjoy drawing and looking at.

I have been nervous about sharing this work and worried about missing the mark, but it's come out a lot closer to what I want than I thought I could get and I can't wait to push it even further. I will look back at past mistakes and successes to make the most of the next year. I am excited to continue making this film.

Premise: Crit (Submission)

Film Reviews
1
2

Premise: Making

I have made two versions, one with facing pages and one without. I like the way it looks with facing pages, but I think that the other one will work better for the presentation.

Premise: Storyboard

Premise: Animatic

My animatic for my film that still does not have a name. Something I need to continue thinking about.

Premise: Transcript

I have written out my audio:

So, Fibromyalgia, I have it. It’s a bit difficult to describe, or a lot difficult. It feels weird and I can’t describe it accurately. I mean, it changes all the time. I might say something to describe how it feels that’s almost right in that moment, but it’s completely off the next.

I could tell you that my wrists feel tight, like they’ve been wrapped up in plastic, or even like something alive has gotten hold of me. But then, it almost feels like my hand isn’t even attached sometimes, like my wrist is gone, or maybe it would be better to say that part of it is missing, it’s exposed, or it’s hollow, with something sharp under the surface. Cos you can’t see anything, even though it really feels like you should be able to see something. You might see me looking at my hand like it’s gonna bite me, but it looks fine. Or, you might see me moving strangely, because something feels out of place and I’m trying to put it right, like I’m doing a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle that has pieces missing. Or maybe there’s more than one puzzle in the same box and I’m trying to sort through it. Because my hands don’t even feel like they’re part of the same set as the rest of me.

My feet never feel like they’re gonna hold my weight, even if know, logically, they almost always do. Part of my brain is just telling me - ‘no, dude, you don’t even have feet, you’ve, they’ve melted, you’ve just got puddles or sponges, you know what maybe they’re made out of rock today, I wouldn’t even try moving those. Which obviously sounds ridiculous, but it’s somehow a pretty compelling argument when it’s being yelled right in my brain. I’m like, wow, yeh, maybe I don’t have feet, I should check that, or, just to be safe, not stand up, ever. 

And I always feel like I’m walking funny. Like, I’m on stilts, or I’ve got springs instead of knees. Am I tilting sideways? And sometimes, out of nowhere, I’m suddenly very aware that my torso is just this tub of meat, and it’s stacked on two other tubs of meat, my legs, like sausages. It doesn’t feel very stable, how am I even standing up right now? I feel like I could fall apart at any moment.

Sometimes, when I wake up, I feel like I must have fallen asleep at the beach, and I’ve got sunburn everywhere, or something close to that. Like, something that should be there isn’t, the top layer of my skin has been scraped off. And it’s fucked up that that’s how it feels, but, nothing ever looks wrong.

And my teeth, it feels like I’m gonna open my mouth and they’re all just gonna fall out. If I even feel like I can open my mouth. Sometimes it feels like my jaw has been clamped shut. Which is frustrating, because then it feels like I can’t have a go at my body for dicking me around like it does. Which I feel like I need to be able to do, just to get some distance from the whole thing.

And my back has a mind of its own. It’s always telling me what to do, and it’s like stop, no, no move, not like that. Why the fuck did you think that would be a good idea. And sometimes it’s not even talking to me, it’s having a party, I’m not invited.

So, I’m saying all these crazy things and none of it describes how it literally feels, but I guess the truth is in there somewhere. Maybe it just gives an idea of how weird it is.

Premise - Updated Audio

I re-recorded my audio, with a bit more of an annoyed voice. I want to add to the end, something about it also giving an idea of being frustrated at not being able to literally describe it. Maybe after 'how weird it is', I could say something along the lines of 'and how fucking annoying it is not to be able to explain it'. I don't think I will get this recorded for this project, but it I something I will work on leading up to the minor project.

Premise: Maya Test

1 Standard surface shaders

2 Standard surface shaders, with sub surface scattering

3 SSS, with higher exposure on lights

4 Toon, using emission on standard surface

For this test I built a simple version of a section of my arm. I think I do prefer the look of number 4 so far, but will continue to try other things.

Toolkit 2: Pipeline 1 - Rigging 1,2

I made a mistake and had to redo the feet & legs, but I was able to do it much faster the second time and it's useful to have done it twice, in terms of remembering it.

Premise: Visualisation Ideas 3

'Looking at my hand like it's going to bite me'

'Moving strangely'/'jigsaw puzzle'

'Different jigsaw puzzles'

'Sausages'

I am struggling to get a texture like sausage, but I think the last one is getting there.

Premise: Visualisation Ideas 2

'Wrapped in plastic' and 'Something alive'

I feel better about this newer version of 'wrapped in plastic', I prefer how this would have more effect on movement, I may even add more plastic.

I don't think I will actually use red for 'something alive'. I was thinking I'd use black to have more of a difference between it and the plastic, but I think that the red will actually work better and then there will be more impact for the next part, where I go under my skin and it's dark.

'Wrist is gone/exposed' 'Hollow' 'Something Sharp Inside'

I want to have black here to make more of a difference between the inside and the surface. After this last panel I would cut to outside again and there would just be the plain character with nothing wrong showing. (I don't think I'll use the angle I have in the second and third panel, I'll come in from something like the angle I have in the first panel instead.)

'Skin scraped off'

I'm not sure how graphic I want to go with this. I think I will have to line it up next to the other things I use and see which fits best. I was also thinking about having a shot with a pile of skin on the floor, maybe pooled around my feet, but I don't know if that actually serves the purpose I want this part to. At the moment I prefer the second panel, with a section pulled back like wallpaper, but it's wet and shiny inside. 

Toolkit 2: Lighting and Rendering 24,25,26

23

25

26