Adaptation B: Silhouettes & Finding Shapes

In Friday's tutorial, Alan told me that I should try to find the shapes within the sketches of the characters, in human form, that I did. The first thing I did was turn them into silhouettes as I wanted to see how they'd look. I then drew around the sketches to get their outline'.
 

Silhouettes

Character Outlines

I drew the outlines by only drawing it straight lines roughly, as I wanted them to show a clear structure that would ressemble a building's. Once I had all the outlines drawn out, I looked at the original sketches and then I drew more details into them, therefore adding more shapes. I drew them using only straight lines and didn't go into too much detail. After I edited them in Photoshop, I added more detail, without looking at the initial drawings. I tried to make the details similar to ones that you'd find on a building, which I don't think is that clear, although there certainly are some interesting shapes and patterns there, I think.

Added Detail

Further Detail added

As I had changed the original silhouettes' outline by drawing in straight lines, I made more silhouettes to see if the use of straight lines had an effect, which there is, but very minimal. As buildings tend not to be one shape, I drew over these silhouettes to make them one whole form. There isn't much difference, especially with Oliver, but that's good, to some degree, as they still look like their specific character.

Straight lined Silhouettes

Whole Silhouettes

Obviously these are in very earlier stages, still, and aren't yet showing the characteristics of a building. I will continue to work with similar techniques as well as trying to get buildings from these shapes.

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 11 - Collision Events - Tutorial

In today's Maya session, I have completed the collision events tutorial. Very straight forward, so there were no problems completing it. I think maybe the rain is a bit too blue, but that's not the biggest issue in the World.

Adaptation B: Character Sketches (Human Form)

As I have metnioned in the previous post, Alan said that I should draw out the chracters in human form first so that I can use them to get a better understanding about the pose and appearnace of the building. By looking into the 6 characters I have drawn these skecthes, as you can see below. I wanted them to have quite a clear pose and one which suits their character. Some of them were easier to figure out what pose it would be, like Oliver Twist (Asking for me) and then it was a challenge trying to draw them in an interesting and understandable way - drawing Oliver was especially difficlt as it was unclear what he was doing when I tried to draw him from the front.

I do quite like these, of course some more than others, but I think there's a clear style there as I'm trying to maintain the style of my initial sketches whilst looking at existing illustartions from Dickens's stories. I think this has shown me that there is a good range of appearance in there and so that will make it easier to understand when watching the animation.

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 10 - Emit from Particles - Tutorial

This is my attempt at the Emit from Partcles tutorial. Had no problems with this one, as it's starting to come very natural to me as to what I need to do with this set of tutorials.

Adaptation B: Chosen Characters

As I have said in a previous post, I want 6 characters in the animation, and I want them to be varied in what they'd look like , as a building, and what they're personalities are like. I, also, didn't want to have more than 2 characters from one story. By looking at the characters I came up with in more detail, as well as doing some more research into alternative characters these are the 6 characters I have chosen:

• Oliver Twist - Oliver Twist (1837)
• Fagin - Oliver Twist (1837)
• Ebenezer Scrooge - A Christmas Carol (1843)
• Mrs Gamp - Martin Chuzzlewit (1844)
• Uriah Heep - David Copperfield (1850)
• Miss Havisham - The Great Expectations (1861) 

I think Fagin and Uriah Heep may be a bit similar, but I think that could lead to them being a couple of tricksters, who could be next to each other. Apart from that, I think there's a good mix in there. Mrs Gamp could act as a friendly guardian for Oliver, while the ghostly figure of Miss Havisham "haunts" Scrooge. The challene here is to make these relationships connect together into one animation.

Based on Alan's advice of firstly drawing the characters in human form in a certain pose, before going straight into the building designs, I have been trying to make them all different, but maintaining a constant style, similar to the one in my initial sketches post. This is proving to be quite a challenge and so is taking me much longer than it should be.

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 9 - Curve Flow - Tutorial

This is my attempt at the curve flow tutorial. I managed to complete it properly with no major issues.

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 8 - Surface Emission - Tutorial

I have completed both the surface emission and curve flow tutorials today, and so the video shows my attempt at the can surface emission tutorial. When I was doing it in the lesson, I got some way into t before I realised that I chose the wrong emit from object, so I need to create the emitter again. That was the only problem I had, so I managed to complete it properly second time round.

Mudbox Session: 16/02/2016

In today's mudbox session we continued working on our own thing. I kept having problems making what I wanted to, and so I ended up just doing another head.

Adaptation B: Initial Sketches

 

First 4 Sketches

 Last 3 Sketches

I have done these 7 sketches to show the style that I'm going for. I started with the intention of designingthe building for Fagin, but when I noticed some of them didn't fit the character, I opted to just do random ones. I like my illustration style and so I decided to keep them in black and white, which also suits the Charles Dickens era, I think. I quite like these as they're quite abstract and unusual and so they will add a certain degree of character to the buildings.

All 7 Sketches

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 6 - Emit from Curve - Tutorial

This was my attempt at the emit from curve tutorial, and it proved to be abit more of a cahllenge for me, in comparison to the others. I managed to follow everything fine, just when it came to rendering and after effects, I must have done something wrong or not done something. The planet was somewhat transparent, so I tried my best to fix it in after effects, but it's still not as clear as other people's attempts. 

Explosion

 The Planet

Dynamics 1: Intro to Dynamics PART 7 - Per Point Emission - Tutorial

This is my attempt at the per point emission particle tutorial. Very quick and straight forward so there were no issues. I have completed the Emit from curve tutorial, also, but it's currently being rendered.

Adaptation B: Charles Dickens' Characters

As I have taken a slight break from this side of the adaptation project, whered oing work is concerned, I have still been thinking about both the style and choice of characters for the final animation. Charles Dickens has a wide range of characters of various personalities and appearances. I think this also needs to be the case in the animation as there can't be just be 6 of the same type of character. There should be conflict and contrasts between them, which would then lead to a more entertaing result.

If I do intend to go down the route of having it shown with one image, i.e. you see all the buildings on screen throughout the duration of the animation, there should only be about 5 or 6 characters, so they fit the screen well (Not too far away or too close). I have been looking into Dickens' well known stories and have, therefore, been considering the characters. I think there should only be a maximum of 2 characters from the same story, as if there were more it would just feel like you were watching an adaptation of that story.

I have some ideas about some characters, but some I still don't know much about. Below are a list of characters that could go in the animation, with intial ideas about their appearance/personality next to them:

• Oliver Twist - Oliver Twist (1837) - Small, Innocent, Friendly, Gentle
• Fagin - Oliver Twist (1837) - Obscure, Intimidating, Somewhat Frightening, Mysterious.
• The Artful Dodger - Oliver Twist (1837) - Cocky, Quick Witted, Bombastic, Cockney.
• Daniel Quilp - The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) - Ghastly, Crooked, Aggressive, Strange.
• Ebenezer Scrooge - A Christmas Carol (1843) - Scary, Unliked, Dark, Mean --- Odd, Friendly, Excited, Enthusiastic.
• Mrs. Gamp - Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) - Funny, Drunk, Crazy, Surreal, Imaginative, Witty.
• Uriah Heep - David Copperfield (1850) - Ugly, Thin, Strange, Obsessed, Weird.
• Miss Havisham - The Great Expectations (1861) - Wrathful, Betrayed, Alone, Ghostly.

Fig.1 Fagin from Oliver! (1968) Played by Ron Moody 

Illustration Reference:

Fig.1 Fagin from Oliver! (1968) Played by Ron Moody - https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/6/11/1434051448425/a86608c4-807f-4830-be17-f76b021ca7a1-2060x1236.jpeg - (Accessed 06/02/2016)

Adaptation A: A Beginner's Guide to Failure - Final Submission

A Beginner's Guide to Failure - Info-Graphic

I decided not to include music in the end, as when I did include one, it was very confusing on the ears. When certain sound effects took place and while the Narrator was speaking, it was quite strange and makes more sense without it.

A Beginner's Guide to Failure - Art Of

Adaptation A : Final Info-Graphic (No Music/Sound Effects)

Now that the "2 Weeks Later" shot has been added, the only things that need doing to it are including the music and sound effects. The final info-graphic will be posted in the submission post.

Adaptation A: Revised Script

A Beginners Guide to Failure - REVISED Script

As I have needed to make a few adjustments here and there while animating, I have edited the script so that it matches the final info-graphic.

Adaptation A: All the Scenes put together

I have put all the scenes together into this one video file, so now all I need to do is add music/sound effects and add the "2  weeks later" sign in between the 5th and final scene. Overall, it's looking pretty good, although I think it needs to be a bit clearer when it progresses to the next step.

Adaptation A: Final Scene

 

This is the final scene of the info-graphic and as you can probably tell, it didn't take as long as the others. It's a relatively straight forward scene, but because of the "confusion" is still quite comical.

Adaptation A: Scene 5

This is the 5th scene of the info-graphic, and so now I only have one scene left to do. Originally, it was just going to be him running around the screen continuously, but that felt a little long, so I added the part where he catches his breath to fix that problem, I think it looks quite funny as well. One slight criticism is that I don't think it's entirely clear he's sticking his middle fingers up, and instead looks like he's just scored a goal or something along those lines. I'm quite proud of the running animation though as it's nice and fast and looks reasonably "realistic".

Adaptation A: Removing Scene 6

As I have currently done 4 of the 7 scenes, I have realised it is looking a bit too long and will be well over 2 minutes long. Looking at the script and listening to the voice over file, Scene 6 would have lasted for around 45 seconds, which would have taken up quite a lot of the final info-graphic. Currently, the first 4 scenes last for 1 minute and 44 seconds, so although scene 5 and scene 7 will take the total length to over 2 minutes, the info-graphic won't be quite as long.

Adaptation A: Scene 4

This is the 4th scene of the info-graphic and as you can see, I have changed it a little compared to what it says in the script, as originally he would be slowly falling into the bath, but that would be quite dull, so I changed it to him dreaming of a girl, this is a much better choice, I think. I had to extend the length of some shots, but overall this has worked out quite well. I like the timing of the Bath's arrival as it matches the voice over perfectly.

Adaptation A: The First 3 Scenes

As it's just under half way through, I have put the first three scenes into on video file to see how they look together. I think they all combine quite well, despite each scene having their own individual issues. Like I have said in previous posts, once the music has been chosen/added, it will make it a bit more enjoyable.

Adaptation A: Scene 3

Like the other 2 scenes, this scene feels a bit simple and there isn't much going on. I think the dialogue is a bit too long, so I'm having to drag out sections to make it fit. I have cut out a line from the script, when he's playing the game as that shot of him went on for too long. Although I think it's still a bit too long, it's a bit better.

Mudbox Session: 02/02/2016

In today's Mudbox session, Simon showed us how we can create Masks so we can make hair. We started with a basic head model and were given the freedom to do what we wanted using the tools It was quite a fun lesson and was interesting learning about masks in more depth.

Adaptation A: Scene 2

I have now made the second scene of the info-graphic, as you can see above. I think it's a little better in terms of the frames not being quite as jumpy, but it still feels a little flat in places especially after he has thrown everything off the desk. Hopefully, when I add background music it won't be quite as bad.

Adaptation A: Initial Scene 1

I have done the first scene of the info-graphic, which can be seen above. I haven't yet found suitable music and so it is just the voice over with the flash animation at the moment. I think it looks a little fast, so I think it would work a bit better on a lower frame rate as it's very jumpy at the moment. Although I want it to look a little stuttery, it looks a bit too rapid at the moment. Also, there are moments/frames that are too different to the rest ans so stand out a lot i.e. his body goes a lot smaller for a split second. Regardless of these little issues, it gives a vague idea about how it will look. The scene is quite basic with not much happening, so that's why it looks a bit flat at the moment.