Study Task 3: Research - Aesthetics

As our animation tells a tale of a journey and of magic, the aesthetics of a 2D cut-out style works very well in conveying a storybook feel, perhaps because the medium imitates the aesthetic of a storybook illustration (Kuula, 2016). Other than Breadwinner, this cut-out effect is used in a few animations to portray a fable-like tale. An example of this is seen in the Tale of Three Brothers segment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Warner Bros, 2012).

Although the 2D medium was chosen by the group due to preference, one cannot deny the benefits of its versatility. For example, The Little Prince uses stop motion segments with intentional paper textures to portray a contrast between the real world (which is animated in 3D) and a storybook world (Netflix, 2016).

This storybook aesthetic is also what we are aiming for and a large part of the appeal in the group's animation also stems from the use of textures; but we can use overlays to simulate this effect without the need for puppets. Arguably though, this comes at the cost of producing something that might not look authentic as it would by using a real cut out (On The Set, 2018).

Breadwinner's story world sequences had a storybook aesthetic about it

The animated segment in the Deathly Hallows goes for a more Reiniger style of cut out aesthetic 

An example of an animation using a 2D digital cut out aesthetic (combining use of Photoshop and After Effects)

Bibliography:

Grace and Shirlene (2013), 'Paper Cut Out Animation', Vimeo, Available at: https://vimeo.com/45743496?fbclid=IwAR1sH0SAGMN729R5YlnduVgvE24j_9g3NdtrWnDayzjht2VbmLOSCxWrcP8 (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

Kuula, I. (2016), 'Using Animation to Illustrate a Storybook', Degree Programme in Media and Arts, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland

On The Set (2018), 'The Breadwinner [An Introduction to the Animation Process]', YouTube, 7 March, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtRM8f-mCTk (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

Warner Bros (2012), 'Behind the Scenes: Animating the 'Tale of the Three Brothers'', Pottermore, Available at: https://www.pottermore.com/features/tale-of-the-three-brothers (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

Netflix (2016), 'The Little Prince, Animation Featurette', YouTube, 15 November, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWKSVx1hgXo (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

Study Task 3: Research - Technique

The group's animation went in an unexpected direction and veered towards a digital cut-out (but still 2D) style. The decision to animate in 2D stemmed from group preference, however the digital cut-out style is new to the group as a whole.

The technique involves scanning in textures and overlaying them on the animation and limiting the colours as well as the movement of the characters to a certain extent. A similar method of using scanned textures is used in shows such as South Park (South Park Studios, 2013).

Animations that use a cut-out style such as in the story world sequences of the Breadwinner revealed difficulties in animating this style in a digital software, mainly in the form of simulating the look and feel of paper and imitating the imperfections one would find in handcrafted animation (On The Set, 2018). These limitations however are arguably counteracted by the benefit of being able to edit frames and do pose to pose animation on a medium that is essentially simulating a straight ahead stop motion medium (The Flying Animator, no date).

Textures can be still be seen in South Park although it's not animated with construction paper anymore

Using a digital software to simulate a cut-out animation on The Breadwinner

Bibliography:

On The Set (2018), 'The Breadwinner [An Introduction to the Animation Process]', YouTube, 7 March, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtRM8f-mCTk (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

South Park Studios (2013), 'FAQ: Do you still use construction paper to animate the show?', South Park Studios,

http://southpark.cc.com/blog/2013/06/10/faq-do-you-still-use-construction-paper-to-animate-the-show (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

The Flying Animator (no date), 'Cut Out Animation Rages Through the Ages', The Flying Animator, https://www.the-flying-animator.com/cut-out-animation.html (Accessed 8 Jan 2019)

Study Task 2: Talk This Way

We were taught how to lip sync by making a phoenome mouth chart and planning the placement of the keyframes through use of a dope sheet before using After Effects to actually do it.

The dope sheet planning

My phoenome 'cheat sheet'

This was the resulting animation (I used my Captain Flintlock character from last year!):

What I learned:

• Certain mouth positions can be shared for multiple sounds
• How to lip sync by using time mapping in After Effects
• Using a dope sheet works well to give a general idea of where to put the keyframes but I personally needed to edit the positioning of the keyframes quite a bit in After Effects

What worked well:

• Using time remapping in After Effects made lip syncing much easier than traditionally drawing it frame by frame
• Offsetting the frames one or two frames before the start of the sound

What could be improved:

• I could have planned out the keyframes on the dope sheet a bit better
• I feel that an extra tween phoenome might have made parts of the lip syncing smoother
• Only lips were required for this task but as I added a background, I will keep in mind that for future reference I might need to move other parts of the face like the cheeks and chin to make the lip movement look more natural.

Telling Tales - Week 12

This week I've taken a break from this module to focus on COP which I've started to lag behind on. While Emily and Natalie are working on finishing their parts of the animation, I will work on getting the pre-production booklet done and clean up any other parts needed for submission.

Telling Tales - Week 11

I wanted to finish my parts before the final critique and try to enjoy my Christmas break so with a great amount of effort, I managed to finish off my part of the character animation.

These were the roughs for the walking parts:

The most time consuming part to animate was the stepping stone segment but I really liked how it turned out in the end.

The final animation with Nat and Emily's parts added looks like this so far:

What worked well:

• The boiling title
• The subtle map folding and easing in the map movement
• Limited animation on walk cycles to fit the cut out style
• The stepping stones part worked well
• Extending the time on the split screen segment

What could be improved:

• Movement of Shireen's hand offering coin to peasant may be too subtle

Telling Tales - Week 10

Emily finished the character designs for the elderly Shireen, giving us all enough to make a start on the actual animation. I did the character animation for the very beginning and this was the results of the test:

What worked well:

• Paper cut out style looks great against the textured backgrounds
• The boiling works well
• The character is consistent with the character designs

What could be improved:

• Making the map movement less linear
• Folding the map slightly as she's pulling it down
• The title doesn't quite fit the style - I'll try animating it by hand and boiling it too