P2. Final Character

I drew out my final character on paper, and then loaded it onto Photoshop to colour. I decided that using Photoshop to colour my final character makes it look neater and more professional. The colours look bold and neat and suitable for a final character image. I used the paint bucket tool to fill in the colours, and added highlights for definition and 3-dimensionality.

P2. Front, Side and Back Sketches

These were drawn out on paper, and scanned and coloured in on Photoshop to add detail and colouring ideas for my final character.

P2. Expressions

I made a variety of expressions that are suitable for my character's personality: happy, excited, intrigued, confused, very happy, playful, and sad. I scanned in my sketch of my character's head and repeated it six times, changing the facial expressions and using the paint bucket to fill in the colours on Photoshop.

P2. Colour Development

I wanted to develop my design process by looking at different colouring options for my Pirate. I looked at a range of colours on Photoshop after scanning in my drawing and used the different combination of colours to create my final design. I feel like the blond hair works the best because it's bright and eye-catching, and that will make it more interesting for younger viewers because they're easily distracted so they need something bold to keep them watching. I used a simular reasoning for preferring the light trousers, as they make the pirate look more friendly which is the type of character I want to get across as it's a children's adventure television series. Looking at the stripes, I wanted a bold colour that contrasts with the trousers but still looks good and not too much. I like the red because it works well with the blond hair as well as the pale blue trousers. 

P2. Animation Process Flowchart

Idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning:
Have your idea or be commissioned a brief. Produce a written statement to sell your brief, write a script, do an outline budget, pitch the concept and the the go-ahead. Finalise the budget and get together a crew.

Concept design:
This is the first stage of design, doing preliminary work to illustrate the narrative and possible visual treatment of the project, a time to experiment with characterisation and style.

Storyboarding:
The Director will work closely with the Storyboard Artist/s to visualise the script and tell the story. The Storyboard illustrates the narrative, composes the shots, demonstrates action, indicates camera moves and maintains continuity. The storyboard will be revised and updated to reflect changes to the script or comments from Director, Producer or Client.

Production design and visual development:
The Production Designer and/or Art Director will develop the style of the production and produce the final designs for both characters and environments. For 2D, model sheets and turnarounds of characters together with key backgrounds will be produced; for Stop Frame, characters and sets will be designed; for CG, designs for characters, environments and special effects will be produced.

Recording and dialogue:
The Producer and Director will cast the voices and the Director will supervise the recording session, usually attended by the Editor. Often, all the actors will be assembled and the script recorded in one or more sessions.

Building the models, rigging:
From the approved designs, Modellers will translate the drawings and start building the CG models of characters and environments. 

Layouts and animatics:
Layouts are produced based on the storyboard and previously approved design material to provide scene planning, camera movements, visual information about character action and backgrounds.

Animation:
The Director or Animation Director will assign scenes to Animators who produce the images which, when recorded in sequence, create the illusion of movement. Depending on the project and technique, there can be a single Animator working alone or a large team in which there may be a range of talents and skills from lead animator down to junior assistant.

Final backgrounds and colouring:
In 2D, the final colour backgrounds can be produced from the approved layouts onwards. They reflect the production designs and are supervised by the Art Director.

Lighting and compositing:
Lighting is a very crucial stage in the creative process of CG, dictating the final colour and atmosphere of each shot.

Post production:
During the post production phase music will be recorded, sound effects added and the soundtrack finalised. The digital picture is combined with the completed soundtrack as an Edit Master and can then be output either at broadcast standard or onto film, depending on the delivery requirements.

P2. Character Developing

P2. Idea Feedback

From my feedback I have found that the best idea to take forward is my Pirate children's television series, but I can take ideas forward from the other animations. For example, I can add educational features from the Fish animation, and I can make it comedic like the Baby animation. From the feedback I was told that the concept of the Pirate animation is well thought out and is fits well with the target audience.

P2. Breaking Characters Into Shapes

P2. Design and Target Audience

Character Silhouettes

P2. Character Deconstruction

P2. Character Shapes and Planning

P2. Animation Trends

Trends in Animation:



Top Animated Features -

2013: 
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University

2012:
Brave
Madagascar 3
Dr Seuss The Lorax

2011:
Kung Fu Panda 2
The Smurfs
Cars 2



Non-Disney successful films:

• Lego Movie
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Darker films for younger audiences:

• Quirky
• Humour appeal of ages

• Paranorman
• Frankenweenie
• Coraline
• The Nightmare before Christmas
• The Corpse Bride

Similarities in Top Animated Features over the 3 years: 

• Sequels = franchises
• Sequels are popular because if the original film was successful then people are more likely to go see the sequel
• Franchises
• extra finance
• existing audience
• Merchandise
• Big companies, eg 
• Pixar
• Dreamworks
• 3D option
• Established Hollywood stars
• increase publicity
• voice acting
• Adventure films
• Family-orientated films

TV Trends:

• Cbeebies
• Milkshake
• Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
• Fifi and the Flowertots
• Postman Pat
• Fireman Sam
• Peppa Pig
• All are types of 2D animation

Older audiences:

• Simpsons
• Family Guy
• South Park
• American Dad
• King of the Hill

• Adventure Time
• Ed, Edd n Eddy
• The Amazing World of Gumball
• The Regular Show

Eratic

Abstract

3D characters over 3D backgrounds

Mix Artistic

Episodes:

• Driven by a character and key events
• Characters hardly/never develop

Web Series

• Early Years Entertainment
• Simple, catchy
• Therefore repeated viewings

• Experimental
• Cutting edge
• Educational animation on Vimeo

Examples:

• ASDF
• Charlie the Unicorn
• Teen audiences
• Short
• Quotable
• Stands up to repeat viewing

P2. Animation Comparison

Peppa Pig
'CelAction' was the name of the software used to animate Peppa Pig, as well as 'Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom' and 'The Big Knights'. It is a 2D animation software that's intended for films, television series and commercials. It uses vectors and/or bitmaps, character models can be rigged into a skeleton so that animation can be changed and reused easily. Effects are built into the scene so they can be created, animated and edited quickly by the editors themselves. There are over 60 effects available, scenes can be made visually richer and more dynamic with very little effort.

Dot
Dot was created with a Nokia N8 mobile phone that had been attached to a microscope. They had to have 50 different replacements of Dot to create the 2 minute short film, and there were three copies for each pose. They used stop-motion to create the short: positioning the character and taking a picture before moving Dot slightly and taking the next picture. Dot was made by an animator who created 2D designs and gave them to a 3D modeller who used a 3D printer to make the character. Dot was placed on wire and the editor hid it by using a back plate.

South Park
The shows style of animation is inspired by the paper cut-out cartoons made by Terry Gilliam for Monty Python's Flying Circus, of which Parker and Stone have been fans. Construction paper and traditional stop motion cutout animation techniques were used in the original animated shorts and in the pilot episode. Later episodes have been produced by computer animation, providing a similar look to the originals but take a fraction of the time to create. Before the computer artists began animating an episode, a series of animatics drawn with Adobe Photoshop are provided by the show's storyboard artists.

P2. Character Shapes

P2. Breaking Characters into Shapes

I looked at the character shapes and broke them down into shapes such as rectangles, circles, ovals, and lozenges. It lets you start with basic shapes so you can develop individual characters by using different shapes together and at different sizes.

P2. Character Design

Character design is the combination of physical traits and narrative - narrative/storyline defines personality, gives context (genre, location, setting) therefore has to feed into look and design of the character. The face is the primary channel to express emotion (a reason for the many large headed characters). A lot can be said with posture and body language - this allows for personality traits to be identifiable in silhouette.

Solarski - states that how a character carries their physical weight can tell us about their personality - which body part they lead with is important.

Hero leads with their chest. If they lead with their pelvis is represents being laid back/lazy. Leading with head often show intelligence and knees tend to represent being a coward.

Cuddy - Power and dominance revolves around expanding power

Expand - take up space

Weakness: cover up, make yourself small.


Leading with chest:

Superman - leads with his chest - strong, powerful, hero, muscular













Leading with pelvis:

Goofy - laid back - slouchy - lazy - slumped













Leading with head:

Gru - villian - intelligent - suspicious

P2. Shapes in Character Designs

P2. Cartoon Character Analysis

P2. Research Animation

Pixar

Before Pixar was given its name, Ed Catmull was recruited by George Lucas from The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) to head Lucasfilm's Computer Division, which is a group charged with developing state-of-the-art computer technology for the film industry. At The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), the researchers pioneered many of the foundation CG (computer-generated) techniques, most notably the invention of the "alpha channel". Years later, the CGL (the Computer Graphics Lab) produced and experimental film called The Works.

In 1982, the team began working on film sequences with Industrial Light and Magic on special effects. Then after years of research, and key milestones in films such as the Genesis Effect in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the Stained Glass Knight in Young Sherlock Holmes. Then in 1986, the 40 individuals in the group spun out as a corporation in February 1986 when Steve Jobs purchased the Computer Graphics Division from Lucas and established the independent company, calling it "Pixar". Steve Jobs made an investment and paid $5 million to Lucas for technology rights and put them and $5 million cash as capital into the company. The same year, Luxo Jr was completed. Luxo Jr was a short film that was John Lasseter's directorial debut, and was unveiled in August at SIGGRAPH and then screened for general audiences and Los Angeles-area theatres in November. Luxo Jr was the first three-dimensional computer animated film to be nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar.



Later on, in 1988, Tin Toy was completed. A partially completed version was screened for SIGGRAPH audiences in August, and the film received its official premiere later that year at the Ottawa International Film Fest. Tin Toy was the first computer animated film to receive an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1988. This five minute film was responsible for saving Pixar, because at the time of Tin Toy's release the company was facing serious financial problems. Tin Toy also led to the interest and attention of Disney and was the base for one of the most successful animated film series of all time - Toy Story.

Tin Toy follows the story of a one-man band toy called Tinny, who meets a baby called Billy who he has been given to. At first Tinny is excited to be played with but then he becomes scared and tries to run away when he sees how Billy treats his other toys. Tinny hides under the sofa and meets a group of toys that have escaped Billy, and Tinny wants to join their group but Billy falls over trying to chase him, making him cry and Tinny feel guilty. Tinny then realises and accepts his fate and leaves the safety of the sofa to try and cheer up Billy and Billy picks up a terrified Tinny and sets him down, going off to play with Tinny's cardboard box instead. Tinny gets annoyed that Billy isn't playing with him anymore and the film ends with Tinny trying to win back Billy's attention. 

Tin Toy heavily influenced the story of the company's first feature-length film, Toy Story, by paving the way for Pixar. Without Tin Toy, Pixar could be a very different company today.




What is unique about the working culture and environment of Pixar that makes it so successful is that Pixar's company culture emphasises collaboration, creativity and risk taking. Steve Jobs felt that the spontaneous meetings in the halls of the building are the best ones.

"Then again, if we aren't always at least a little scared, we're not doing our job. We're in a business whose customers want to see something new every time they go to the theatre. This means we have to put ourselves at great risk. Our most recent film, Wall-E, is a robot love story set in a post-apocalyptic world full of trash. And our previous movie, Ratatouille, is about a French rat who aspires to be a chef. Talk about unexpected ideas! At the outset of making these movies, we simply didn't know if they would work. However, since we're supposed to offer something that isn't obvious, we bought into somebody's initial vision and took a chance." - Ed Catmull, (How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity, http://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity/)

Pixar makes CGI animated motion pictures (Wall-E has so far been the only Pixar film not to be completely animated, featuring a small live-action element). The genre of Pixar's films are fun, action-packed family films that are suitable for all ages.

Pixar still starts with sketches and storyboards when bringing together their ideas. The images are labelled as storyboard, concept art, modelling process, layout process, animation and stimulation, and lighting and final image. However, one of the Animators for Pixar said that the label 'concept art' is actually referred to as 'colour script'. Colour Scripts highlight how the colours in the film will relate to the storyline.



Shortly before Toy Story, Pixar was made to produce film/television advertisements, because they had been losing money over several years and Steve Jobs thought that this would be the best way to get the money back. The hope was that with the advertisements, the company could become self-supporting, and the goal was a computer animated television movie or feature film (ultimately that being Toy Story later on).

Pixar made it clear that they would only do the advertisements if they had a say in the creative development, which is an unusual request to most advertising companies because normally they come up with everything by themselves, from the scripts to the storyboards. Pixar went on to make the advertisements and made $2 million a year in the advertising business as well as gaining worldwide exposure to the mainstream public.




Toy Story, the world's first computer animated feature film, was released in theatres on November 22nd, 1995. It's the first, most significant film for Pixar because it became the highest grossing film of 1995, making $192 million domestically and $362 million worldwide. Toy Story was nominated for Best Original Song, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Additionally, David DiFranceso recieved a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award for Film Input Scanning.

Pixar expanded from films to look at advertising - they advertised for Sky Fibre Broadband by using Toy Story. Sky Fibre Broadband is an internet service provider for Sky customers. The Toy Story characters starred in a Sky Promo for Toy Story of Terror.

P2. Walking Bear

I created this Walking Bear animation on After Effects, using a walk cycle diagram to see where to position the legs on my bear so the walk was realistic. I imported the bear onto After Effects to create the movement in the arms and legs. I went onto the bear composition and set the frame rate to 23.976 and changed the duration to '0:00:05:00'. I zoomed in on the timeline so that I only had 16 frames showing because this is the amount I wanted to work with.

P2. Animation Products Research

Types of Animation 


Film - Frozen

Year of release: 2013
Which company made it: Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, based in America
Who directed it: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
What is the animation style: 3D digital imagery - a blend of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and traditional hand-drawn animation
Target audience: Aimed at families with sons and daughters who want a funny, adventure themed story
Purpose of the animation: To make the film look 3D and realistic but still cartoon-like to fit the Disney theme.
What do you like about it: I like the storyline and the music that fits well with the theme, it's a 'heart-warming' story that's funny but still has a message like all Disney films do. It's a fun film that is perfect to watch with anyone.




Short - Pixar Monsters Inc. Mike's New Cars

Year of release: 2002
Which company made it: Pixar
Who directed it: Pete Docter and Roger L. Gould
What is the animation style: Computer-animated imagery (CGI)
Target audience: Families of all ages
Purpose of the animation: A short comedy film as a spin-off from the Monsters Inc. film
What do you like about it: It's funny and entertaining and it's interesting from start to finish - I like how it's an additional clip from the Monsters Inc. film in case viewers want a bit extra.




TV Series - Tom & Jerry

Year of release: 1940 - 2005
Which company made it: Made by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
Who directed it: n/a
What is the animation style: Drawing cartoons / hand drawing animation
Target audience: Young children and families
Purpose of the animation: To entertain young children and families
What do you like about it: I like that it's funny and entertaining and the characters are engaging. The episodes are always action-packed and adventurous.

Web Series - Happy Tree Friends

Year of release: 1999 (Internet) and 2006 (Television)
Which company made it: Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Monjito, Kenn Navarro and Warren Graff for Mondo Media
Who directed it: (Produced by) John Evershed and Liz Stuart
What is the animation style: Flash cartoon
Target audience: People who like midly gory, funny cartoons
Purpose of the animation: To entertain the audience / make them cringe
What do you like about it: It's a twist on a cute, animal cartoon program (ironic name - Happy Tree Friends)




Music - Daft Punk: One More Time

Year of release: 2000
Which company made it: Virgin Records
Who directed it: Daft Punk
What is the animation style: Anime
Target audience: Daft Punk fans, Anime fans
Purpose of the animation: To create an eye-catching music video to a song
What do you like about it: The disco-style theme for the upbeat music




Advert - The Bear and The Hare

Year of release: 2013
Which company made it: Adam and Eve/DDB
Who directed it: Elliot Dear
What is the animation style: Hand-drawn 2D animation with 3D sets
Target audience: All ages because it's advertising a diverse shop
Purpose of the animation: Promote John Lewis and its Christmas stock coming in
What do you like about it: I like the way it's animated like a children's story book to make the older viewers of the audience feel a sense of nostalgia from their childhood and the music is suitable for the advert so it works well together to make the advert successful.

P2. After Effects Animation

To create this animation, I went onto photoshop and used the shape tool to create the square form my character. For each part of the body I made a new layer, for example the 'body' was a layer, 'left arm' was a layer, and 'right leg' was a layer. But I didn't make the mouth because that needs to be made and animated separately  I then imported it into After Effects, and I clicked on each layer and moved the anchor points to the centre, allowing me to move each layer with key frames, so I made his arm go up then down, like he's waving. Then, to create the mouth, I took a series of photos of myself saying 'yeah boy' on Photobooth, I then uploaded them onto photoshop and drew over them, then putting into after effects with the square man.

P2. Practise Rotoscoping

For this rotoscoping GIF I took a video of myself dancing and uploaded it onto Photoshop, making an Animation Timeline so they separated into individual frames. Then I created a new layer over the frame of the photo and sketched around me, using the eyedropper tool to use the same colours as the image. Afterwards I clicked on the next frame and repeated this, and so on until I rotoscoped over all of the frames. On each frame I had to make sure only the layer of the frame I'm working on and the layer I'm drawing on were the only two visible. Once I had drawn all of the layers, I got rid of all the images in the background to leave just the rotoscoped animation, and then I added the white background to finish it.

P2. GIFs

I used the same method for these GIFs as I did with the Rocket but I opened the file by going to 

File - Import - Video Frames to Layers

P2. Practice Animation - Making GIFs

1. Open Photoshop with the template 
2. Window - Timeline
3. Duplicate selected frames x6
4. Hide 2, 1, Launch and Fire
5. Show 2 on next frame
6. Show 1 on next frame
7. Show Launch on next frame
8. Show fire on next frame
9. Move rocket to top and fire, add in frames in between them
10. By 'Tweening' eg 9 frames
11. Change the speeds
12. File - Save for Web