Update on current progress (11/06/13)

For the past few weeks I have been unable to work on the Derek and Boggy film, as I have focused on my group animation project. As it became closer to the group deadline,  my workload increased and it was very time consuming to complete the final group animation video. My task was to edit all shots together and add the sound effects and vocals to the film. This was very last minute, as I could not complete my task until all other group members had provided me with their completed work.

I had to work throughout the night to meet the deadline and finish the animation.

I was unable to work on both projects at the same time as, one task would take up more time than expected.

After submitting the completed group project, I have spent some time having a break from work. During this time, however I have carried out further research on British animation and Cosgrove Hall. Research found includes:

Animation Nation - a BBC Four documentary about the history of British animation from commercials, Children's TV and a episode on different views of British Culture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0088rlw/episodes/guide

The DVD to watch episodes can be found in the Teesside Uni Library.

Skwigly Podcast - Skwigly is a online magazine website which features podcasts from animation pioneer's. One featuring Brain Cosgrove discussing his work from the past, present and future.

http://www.skwigly.co.uk/animation-podcasts/

The podcast is in two parts

Chuck Amuck The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist by Chuck Jones - a book about the lifetime work of Warner Bros most renowned animation Director Chuck Jones

The book can be found in Tesside Uni Library.

Derek And Boggy Progress

Let me start off by showing you what the title should looks like. The animation piece will begin by panning out from the starry sky to this still image shown below.  This has already been timed out and simply needs to be added to the video.

The scene will then be set by making it clear that it is night time and that the two characters will be walking through the woods in the dark.

I possibly might add a text sequence to verify what the two characters are doing before they appear on screen.

  

I have managed to at this point to get the film's animation run time up to 49 sec leaving only a few more scenes let to be put in.  

 

One of the challenges that I faced was to have a sequence were one character (Boggy) turns from one position to another, at a moments notice. See below

Boggy start off pose 

Looking Right

Looking Left

I carried out research to establish how this sequence could be done. A looked at animation video created by Chuck Jones 'The Dover Boys' who showed how to make fast movement look effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vrD0aog7Kts#t=829s

To achieve this I distorted the eye's shape making it stretch out and blurring it to give the look of boggy zipping across from left to right. Around 16 frames were used to created this sequence.

This save on the amount of frames used compared to if it was done more conventionally

See examples of frames in this sequence

Write up

Below is the link to the write up. This is a work in progress. 
So far I managed to write:

• Introduction
• History of Animation - Chuck Jones, Cosgrove Hall Films 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/74mh2mhlohskaa3/CP.docx?m

Update for work over Easter Break

There's a lot I have to say now that Easter holiday now over been really busy with both the animation and final report I've been working both at uni and home to get the most out during the uni Easter holiday

Some pieces of animation have taken longer to make than previously thought and a bit concerned about the film length of now (see below)

Here are some of the storyboards I've managed to do They show off the key frame poses for the eyes please note none of the pages have any writing on them yet as time is of the essence they will be put on later.


Storyboards


Each panel is taken from a line of dialogue and description of the scenes.  I have only drawn what key scenes will appear I have not included any transitions at the moment.

For this animation, which is of a comedic genre, I am animating to the sound rather than timing out each still image.    In my opinion this was the best way to produce, as the overall effect of the animation  relies more on dialogue and therefore the audio and soundtrack had to be completed first.

I have been working mainly on the animation which took longer than I had anticipated.  The sequence of Boggy walking on and off screen was something that I new would take a while to do, unfortunately it took far long than I thought it would.

I had a lot of alterations to do to get it right.  I have now finalised this but at present feel I will have to reduce this to one of these whereas I had previously intended to do three.  I will replace the other two with captions of walk on and walk off accompanied by sound effects.

The timing of the film at present is at 1 minute 16 seconds without the opening sequence and credits.  Due to the amount of work I still have to do I may have to reduce this further.

I have also been working on my dissertation outlining the structure and at present have written 1,000 words in relation to  my History of Animation section which is based on the work of Chuck Jones and Cosgrove Hall Films.

First Animation Pice done

This is my very first piece of animation for the film.  It has taken me 2 days to do the animation and about 2 hours putting it together.

This is the first scene of Boggy looking for Derek - the opening scene (after the title).  I am happy with the results to far and relieved that finally I have something to show for all the work that has taken place so far.

I have also made a start on writing up my Dissertation.  I have outlined the contents page which in theory is a breakdown of what I need to write.

Easter Break

An update of work undertaken during the Easter Break.

This is the storyline I completed back in February.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xs064o9ktwmxk2/Derek%20and%20Boggy%20Animation%20Script%20try%20out%202.docx

This is Bongani and George's best run through the scripts when we were in the recording studio.

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Geroge%20and%20Bongani%20best%20take.wav?w=AADonIy7_KTTbOZCuUvocIMvuLvS7cZQnrXb2TG_fekePg

Before the Easter Break I re-recorded Boggy's lines using my voice.  I then edited together some of George's best takes with my own to give the impression of a conversation taking place between Derek and Boggy.  Please see below uploaded file containing this material.

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Derek%20and%20Boggy%20Audio.mp3?w=AACzfJvQP9Bb48if_WBuWLUfNzAQyWpFL7PXOR8skuAyZg

I managed to do a quick animation of Boggy's eye's blinking.

Please note this also contains Derek blinking.

During the course project I have been in contact with an animator called Billy Allison.  He is an independent animator who has worked for various studios throughout the UK.  I first met Billy at BAF (Bradford Animation Festival) he was representing Team 17.  Our paths crossed on numerous occasions and we have been in contact via Skype for approximately 1 year now.   I would class Billy as a friend who has also acted as a Mentor for me more recently.

Now that I have finalised a successful blinking sequence for both characters along with other preparations.   It feels a relief and and achievement having spent so much time on the preparation to finally see a working piece which I will move forward with to build up my final animation. 

I will be working on the animation (Derek and Boggy) throughout the Easter Break.

Background

The Background while all in black for the most part i needed an opening shot to establish the time of day and the setting of the forest.

I wanted it to be a clear night sky with the stars and moon out and silhouettes of trees. Used the gradient tool to make the night sky going from white, light blue, dark blue and black. I made sure the gradient tool could be used in fireworks, which it can be. That is for the basic background. I did the stars as just very small white dots, trying to copy best what stars look like in the night. I used the ellipse tool to create a half moon, by putting one dark ellipse over a white ellipse. For the trees, I started looking up silhouettes of trees in a forest on the internet and I came across two png files that would fit into the image one set was a group of the same type of trees and the other a variety of different trees.  I used the first one as it seemed to fit the image better. They are both Copyright free so I can use them for my project.   I was pleased with myself that I managed to get this done within one day.  For once my basic idea came to fruition with out any real hiccups.

Opening

Silhouetted trees

http://www.clker.com/clipart-forest.html

Variant silhouetted trees

http://www.clker.com/clipart-13119.html

I tried out some panning shots using Adobe Premier for the opening shot going from the night sky to the forest. I have done two shots. I prefer the second but still have some timing work to sort out on it.  I hope to have it finalised by the end of this week.

First Shot

Second Shot

A quick update on the voice recordings.

I have re-recorded Boggy's lines with me doing the voice of Boggy.  Unfortunately Bongani's voice wasn't suitable but I will still credit him with a Special Thanks.  George wasn't available for a re-recording so I have edited some of his best takes together and now need to add them to the recording I have done today of Boggy.