Minor/Major Project: New Clip Ideas

By looking at the feedback from Alan on the last clip ideas post, I have tried to fix the ones that didn't quite work or needed something else involved. Clip #4 is, obviously, not included as that is the one that I have already done an animatic/storyboard for.

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Story Idea

Man speaking to himself in front of a mirror. Although, the audience do not know who he is until the end, and so while saying the quote, the animation will show close ups of him teasing his appearance, which would then lead on to the big reveal at the end.

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Story Idea

Darth Vader arguing with Luke Skywalker - Darth Vader being the one wearing Navy Blue. Darth Vader then asks another, random, Villain for their opinion of the situation.

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Story Idea

A man is saying the quote from the clip to another character, who has just asked him about his worried expression on his face - the camera slowly zooms in on his face, while he is saying the quote. Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign. (This is just an example of a minor crime, and will be thought about more).

Clip #5

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Story Idea

A man and his subconscious.

This idea, I think, is the least developed and so I will continue to think about how to make this idea as funny as possible - as well as thinking about alternative ideas, like a man talking to a Therapist/Police man/Sheriff etc.

Minor/Major Project: Tutorial Feedback

In today's tutorial with Alan, we talked about the character designs and the clip ideas that I had come up with. With the character designs, we agreed that the tall and thin character design works well, where as the other two characters need a bit more work. It was clear that the tall and thin character had a bit more thought put behind it and had a clear choice of influences - John Cleese being the main example. The other two characters are a bit more random in that regard and so they need to be designed based on a certain personality/character.

Short & Fat Character

This character will be quite shy and nervous, and so will be very awkward when he's on screen. This will also mean that he's a bit clueless and is easily confused. Kent "Flounder" Dorfman from National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Fatbot from Futurama are too existing examples of characters who suit the design idea and the personality described. Both have a child-like innocence to them as well and so they would often say the obvious.

Average Character 

Where as the tall and thin character is quite stern and proud of himself, the average character is a bit of a push over. Although, he is more confident than the short and fat character, he still struggles to take control in certain situations. This character, however, does like to have fun and so does try to play the Joker in the group. Lee Evans and Michael Palin are too examples who suit the design, and are both capable of bringing the laughs.

In the tutorial we also discussed what my aim for the interim crit is, and that is to:

• Get the Character designs completed.
• Finalise the story/clip ideas.
• Create an animatic for one of those clips.

With the progress that I am making, I am confident that all of this is achievable and so the interim crit should go to plan. I have looked at the feedback on the clip ideas and so will try to sort those out as soon as possible, while getting the two character designs better suited to their influences and personalities.

Minor/Major Project: Clip Ideas Re-post + Character Heights

I have drawn this to show the difference in height between the characters - the tall character's height wasn't right/realistic at first, so it needed a bit of tweaking. I have also put them into some new clothes and have added colour for this picture. Below is my previous clip ideas post, with a few more ideas that I have come up with since.

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Story Ideas

• Interrogation Scene, with a toy being the thing that's being interrogated.
• Similar to the previous idea, but having a zoo-keeper talking to an animal at a Zoo.
• A trashman who likes to talk to the rubbish that he picks up off the floor.
•  In the bath.

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Story Ideas

• A married couple getting dressed
• Getting ready for a stage performance that leads to a fight.
• With the dialogue being slightly different, it's two decorators arguing over the colour of the paint, and they get other people's opinions involved.
• Political debate.

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Story Idea

A man is saying the quote from the clip to another character, who has just asked him about his worried expression on his face - the camera slowly zooms in on his face, while he is saying the quote. Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign. (This is just an example of a minor crime, and will be thought about more).

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Story Idea

A man and a woman are in bed, and the man starts trying to wake up her, like a child on Christmas day. The woman annoyingly wakes up and asks what he wants. The man replies saying he wants to play a game. The woman is confused. The man then pulls a Spider-Man mask over his face and then grabs two cans of web spray cans from under the duvet.

Clip #5

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Story Idea

• A man talking to his therapist.
• A boy/girl talking to their teacher.
• In the Jungle

Minor/Major Project: Clip Ideas

Following on from the feedback that I got from Alan in the last tutorial, which cleared up some confusion, I have come up with a few more ideas. Some of the ideas are for the clips that I picked in the last post, and some are from the clip ideas that I came up with a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, some of them have one detailed idea, which I have thought about thoroughly and have a good idea of what the animation would be, and the others have a few quick possible ideas of what I have come up with. I think the issue with some of these ideas is that they are too close to what the audience would expect from the clip and are not obscure enough in where they are set/how they are played out.

Also in the last tutorial with Alan, we discussed the possibility of having 3 main characters, who can easily be other characters - even going so far as to having a male character play a Woman - similarly to Monty Python, where the main actors can play several characters in one film. This idea is something that I have considered when coming up with these ideas.

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Story Ideas

• Interrogation Scene, with a toy being the thing that's being interrogated.
• Similar to the previous idea, but having a zoo-keeper talking to an animal at a Zoo.
• A trashman who likes to talk to the rubbish that he picks up off the floor.

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Story Ideas

• A married couple getting dressed
• Getting ready for a stage performance that leads to a fight.
• With the dialogue being slightly different, it's two decorators arguing over the colour of the paint, and they get other people's opinions involved.

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Story Idea

A man is saying the quote from the clip to another character, who has just asked him about his worried expression on his face - the camera slowly zooms in on his face, while he is saying the quote. Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign. (This is just an example of a minor crime, and will be thought about more).

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Story Idea

A man and a woman are in bed, and the man starts trying to wake up her, like a child on Christmas day. The woman annoyingly wakes up and asks what he wants. The man replies saying he wants to play a game. The woman is confused. The man then pulls a Spider-Man mask over his face and then grabs two cans of web spray cans from under the duvet.

Clip #5

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Story Idea

• A man talking to his therapist.
• A boy/girl talking to their teacher.

Minor/Major Project: New Sound Clip Ideas

Now that I have gone back and have listened to all the sound clips again, I have picked out some of the best clips, and have thought about what genres they could be. I have tried to think about what genre the film actually is, and what genres the film definitely is, but it still makes sense:

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Possible Genres

Horror - Action - Sci-fi - Thriller

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Possible Genres

Horror - Superhero - Action - Romance

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

 

Possible Genres

Mystery - Thriller - Horror

 

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Possible Genres

Horror - Romance - Sci-Fi - Family

Clip #5

"Was it a Dinosaur?"

 "It wasn't a Dinosaur"

 "So, you didn't see it?"

"I didn't."

 "So, how do you know it wasn't a Dinosaur?"

 "Because Dinosaurs are extinct."

"Oh...yeah."

Possible Genres 

Fantasy - Action - Adventure - Family

Minor/Major Project: Idea Progression

In last Friday's tutorial with Alan, I learned that I somewhat misunderstood the idea of using the sound clips. Instead of having a series of short animations, that are all in different locations with different locations, it is about having the same characters in the same World/environment - like old people at an old people's home. I have gone back and listened to all the sound clips again, so now I am thinking about what genre(s) would suit each clip, and then I'd try to think about how it could take place in an old people's home, for example.

I designed these three characters relatively quickly, and I tried to make them have different personalities, so that when it comes to intergrating the sound clips it can suit a certain character - or be for the wrong character (the grumpy one having a fun, high pitched voice, for instance). Of course, these are just initial designs, so once I have figured out what clips I'll be using, I can design suitable characters.

Minor Project: Clip Ideas

After listening to the sound clips more, as well as looking for some myself, I have got 5 quotes where I have come up with a good idea/ideas. 3 of these were part of the selection that Alan gave me, and the other 2 are ones that I thought about/found myself.

From Alan's Selection:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Scenario:

A man is talking into the character, with the camera slowly zooming in on his face, while he is saying the quote. 

Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign.

Airplane! (1980)

"I just want to tell you both:

Good luck, we're all counting on you."

 Scenario:

The camera focuses on the door, while you can hear two people having sex. 

Then a small child walks through the door and says the quote, with absolutely no reaction to what they see. Then the child leaves.

   Shutter Island (2010)

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Scenario:

A young child is talking to his teacher, who tells him the unfortunate truth.

Hearing the Teacher tell him, makes him burst into tears. The teacher then looks at the camera with an "Are you kidding me?" expression on her face.

The Clips I found:

Duck Soup (1933)

"I can see you right now in the Kitchen, bending over a hot stove,

but I can't see the stove."

 Scenario:

A man and a woman are on a date in a restaurant, and the woman asks him about the possibility of living together and how good it would be.

The man responds with the quote.

The woman has an immediate shocked look on her face. She slaps in him in the face and chucks his wine over him. She gets up and leaves.

The camera zooms on the man, as he turns his head to the camera showing a sad expression on his face.

   Seven (1995)

"What's in the box!?"

"Not until you give me the gun."

"What's in the f***ing box!?"

"Give me the gun."

Scenario:

It's Christmas, and a girl receives a present. This sparks a reaction from her brother, while he hold his BB gun and aims it at her. 

The Dad, who gave the girl the present, wants him to give him the gun. 

Minor Project: Tutorial Feedback

In today's tutorial with Alan, he suggested that I should move away from my silent horror comedy idea, and should instead listen to some sound clips from various films, and then try to think of funny/unusual sitatuations where they scene from the clip could be - this is something what year 2 are doing as well. There are 30 short sound clips altogether, some that I know what film it's from, some I recognise but can't quite think what film it is and some that I've not heard before. I think it will be more of a challenge to think of funny scenes for the clips that I do know because I have a clear understanding of it, where as with one that I don't know, I have no idea what is happening or what genre the film is.

After listening through all 30 of them, I have, currently, narrowed it down to 10, which are the ones that I think have the most potential. Alan also said that I could try to find some other clips, which I have, so I'm going to continue listening to those clips and will try to find the best, and funniest, 3.

Minor/Major Project: Influence Map

Although this influence map doesn't show much of a range of influences, it shows what my current idea is, which is to create a silent horror comedy over the year. I have been researching silent comedy and horror comedy quite a bit over the past couple of days trying to think of how the final animation would play out. As I said in the project proposal post, for the minor project, that will mainly consist of designing and modelling the monster character. Frankenstein is an obvious influence for this idea -  Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is a film that has the known story in place, but has a completely different design to the original monster design from the 1931 film. This will allow me to make the design unique, but will still be familiar to audiences due to it's origin.

Young Frankenstein is one of many examples that demonstrate the potential in this idea, I think. The challenge will therefore spawn from the decision to make a silent film, and so I will need to use visual/slapstick humour in order to get the laughs. When trying to think of the style of the animation, I remembered that there are these figures called Vinyl Idolz, that have a fun cartoon design to them, similar to the style that I was going for in the From Script to screen project in year 1.

Minor/Major Project: Proposal

This year long project will involve selecting, and then researching, a specific period of film making and then using said research for creating a short animation in the comedy genre. Although the chosen film period does not need to be a comedy itself, it does need to be clear and faithful to the source "material".

By the end of the Minor project, the following should be completed to a high standard:

• Character Designs
• Full Character turnarounds (Several poses)
• Final Script
• Environment Designs

Once the Major project has finished, there should be:

•  Further Environment Designs (If necessary)
• A short animation (2-3 minutes)
• Full Storyboard & Animatic
• Production art
• Sound recordings
• Voice recordings (If necessary)
• "Art Of" & "Making Of" Documents

Minor Project: New Story Idea

Although I have already come up with a few, I have still tried to come up with more ideas for this project, which will allow me to make an animation in the comedy genre. Yesterday, I watched Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) with my Mum and Dad, and by watching it, it gave me my new idea.

The quality of character and environment designs in Hammer Horror films, and B-Movies, is clear, so this is something that I'd put into my designs. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is the first Hammer Horror film that, I think, I have watched in it's entirety, and so it was a very new experience for me. Some scenes, shots and lines of dialogue in the film were very comical, even when they weren't necessarily meant to be. By taking the well known tropes of these types of film, and taking them a step further, I am confident that I can make something that is both entertaining and funny to watch, even for people of my age.

My intial thought with this idea is to create a Monster/Creature, that roams around an empty environment - a castle, for example. By using visual clues and objects in the animation, I would make it clear that this creature would have been made/created, and has either killed or escaped from it's creators.  As the creature will be the only character, his loneliness will be clear and so he/she will be very bored.

Minor Project: Idea Re-think

In the previous post, I said that I thought that the cooking show was the best idea, but after a few days of thinking about it, I now think that the getting ready for a date, or job interview, would be the best idea. With the cooking show idea, I feel like it would be difficult to keep it going and it wouldn't have a consistent standard of humor, and would be relaint on the same type of joke. The getting ready for a date idea, however, has more potential in it's comedy. By playing to the cliches of how a man gets ready, and then "exaggerating" them, would be a fun thing to watch. I've been going through a rough idea in my head about how it would work:

• Man playing video games. His phone vibrates.
• He looks at the phone and reads a new message by his date. 
• He looks confused. He looks at the calendar and remembers, that the date is in 10 minutes.
• He rushes up off the sofa and heads to the bathroom.
• He goes for a quick wash in the shower.
• Gets out of the shower, and slides in front of the mirror, and starts checking himself out.
• He brushes his teeth, quickly and violently, so much so that the brush gets stuck up his nose.
• He tries to find the right hair style, and when he does, he gives a wink to the camera.
• He runs to the wardrobe and opens it. 
• While looking at the mirror in the wardrobe, he goes through a range of outfits.
• He then sprays some deodrant on himself, and puts a bit of after shave on.
• He leaves his appartment and we see that his trousers are ripped.
• The camera then focuses on his phone, which he forgot. The phone vibrates and another message from his date appears which then tells us that he got the date wrong.

That's a quick run through of how I imagine it working. As it is an animation, I can make impossible/unrealistic things happen which will add to the humor, so I think there is definitely potential with this idea.  Some of this will be hard to do, especially the changing outfits scene, but I really want to test myself this year and get much better grades.

Minor Project: Initial Story Ideas

After watching several silent films and more Comedy documentaries, I have come up with a few relatively simple story ideas that can be made into a funny animation. As I have said in a previous post, I think silent film comedies don't have much of impact on modern audiences, so I want to make something that would answer the question of "If silent films were made in the same way now, regardless of improvements in technology, how would they work and what would they be about?"

• Failing to get ready for a date/job interview properly.
• Someone from the past (early 1900s) "waking up" in the modern World.
• Someone "waking up" into a post-apocalyptic version of the modern World.
• Alien comes to find a human, but can't find anyone.
• A very bad "How to cook" show.

The middle 3 are all fairly similar in that they all tell the same story of someone interacting with the unknown, but obviously in different ways. I think the Cooking show idea would be quite amusing, if say it was done in the standard way of a chef following and teaching you a recipe, but they don't know what they're doing. The problem with this is the lack of speech, but I think it could still be easy to follow through gestures and screens of dialogue in places. With the first idea, I think there is the most potential in terms of visual and physical somedy in that the character can be making a complete fool of himself/herself. Out of these ideas, my personal favourite is the cooking show as I think it can be interesting and funny to watch, and it can be for all audiences.

Laughing Matters (1992): Notes & Idea development

In my first post about this project, Alan suggested that I should watch Laughing Matters (1992) - a documentary, presented by Rowan Atkinson, which explains the different types of Comedy, but is predominantly based around visual Comedy. I wrote a lot of notes while watching this, picking out the key points that he makes and by doing this, I have a clearer image of how the Animation should work, as well as how it is made.

Ironically, he raised a point that I too have considered, which is that old, silent film comedies don't have the same impact on today's audience, as they did when they were released. He used Charlie Chaplin as an example, by saying how modern audiences don't find him as funny. He elaborates by saying that "it's hard to identify with him" and is difficult to get "involved" with what he is doing.

"If you identify with a comic attitude, you'll laugh"

This is, therefore, one such challenge I'll face, especially as it is, of course, for modern audiences. If I can make the audience relate to the subject matter and, most importantly, the character they'll enjoy it more.

As I mentioned earlier, this spoke primarily about visual comedy, and how the character needs to be "portrayed". Many different aspects of the character can lead to the audience understanding who that person is. What they wear, how they move, how their face/body move etc. - all these things can be done in different ways to suit different types of characters. Innonence, however, is perhaps the most important aspect of a visual comedian - like he was born yesterday, or is an Alien completely unaware of what he is doing. Harry Langdon is one such comedian that he mentioned, and said that some one was said that he looked like "a baby-faced dope fiend".

Moving on from this, I will continue watching/finding videos like this, as well as watching some more silent films, so that I can expand on the running themes and could even take old jokes and turn them into new ones. 

Year 3 Project: Initial Idea development

I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do for the first project of year 3, and have gone through many different ideas, of various genres - ranging from creating something that centres around race, gender or sexual orientation, then to something quite dark and ambiguous. I have been thinking about what my strengths are and what genre best suits me, as well as looking at my past work. It is very clear to me, in my opinion, that my info-graphic has been my best final piece of work yet. It was something I enjoyed making and is something that other people seemed to enjoy - which is what I was really happy about. I, therefore, feel that the comedy genre may be the most suitable genre choice.

I am not a fan of stand-up comedy, but one such comedian who always makes me laugh is Rowan Atkinson. I've been watching a lot of his sketches/clips of him online, whether it's from The Thin Blue Line, Rowan Atkinson Live and, of course, Mr Bean. He seems to create comedy in the simplest of ways and gets the audience to laugh just through his movement and facial expressions. One such sketch from his Live show is where he plays the "Invisible Drums". What stands out to me is that it's so memorable and enjoyable, even without dialogue - It acts as a silent film. I could expand on this by having it act as a call back to the era of black and white silent films, starring the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, who we learned about last year.

I have not yet modelled a character, or even animated one, to a reasonable standard, and so this is a challenge I would like, and need, to take on. I want to create something that everyone will enjoy, but will demonstrate a clear style, which then combines with my "light meets dark" style of comedy, which worked well in my info-graphic.

Rowan Atkinson Live - Star of Mr.Bean - Funny Invisible Drum (2010) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_kloG2Z7tU - (Accessed 16/08/2016)

Adaptation B: Adding Colour

With Colour

I have added some colour to the building's front view. I will add colour to both the side views and back view, but so far I'm quite pleased with the colours that I have chosen and how they work with the building. I have looked at several images of Scrooge, and so I have tried to include the suitable colours, like dark browns and black.

Original

Adaptation B: Left, Right & Back of the Building

As I will be making a turnaround of the building, I have drawn the right, left and back of the building. I have tried to keep them all to scale so that it will be an easier task when I create the orthographs, that I can work from in Maya. There is still some tweeking needed in this regard. I'm quite happy with these, although I do think the side views are a bit too upright and could be a bit more crooked, so that I can match Scrooge's arched back, but this is something that is shown in the front view. I have tried to keep the same style, which I think I have done, and so each side looks similar to the front.

Adaptation B: Crit Feedback

In yesterday's crit, it was agreed that getting all 6 buildings modelled and then making an animation with them, would be a challenge and that the buildings shouldn't be able to move. It was decided that I should take one of the buildings/characters and should make a high-res model turnaround. Phil mentioned the idea of having a weather transition so it will go from day to night and so you can see lights turn on/off and even see candle lights flicker. This is a very interesting idea that I am looking forward to doing. I then started thinking about the idea of including snow as it would be very suitable for a Charles Dickens building, although it may be a bit of a cliche.

I was given the choice of any of the 6 characters, and as I have progressed with it more than the others, as well as it being my favourite anyway, I chose the Scrooge building. As it's a turnaround, I will need to draw both side views and the view from the back. I have also been thinking about the idea of the building been displayed on a wooden base, similar to ones that are on trophies, but where it of course still applies to the Charles Dickens "Universe".

Adaptation B: Re-Design - Ebenezer Scrooge

For this re-design of Scrooge, I have tried to add the "sleeping hat" as well trying to include some things that relate to the character. I don't think there's a whole lot different between this design and the initial one and so I will need to work on this a lot more.

Just like what I did with the Miss Havisham re-design, I have put both designs together so that I can see the differences/similarities and see what works well and what doesn't. Like I have said, there isn't much difference as you can clearly see.

Adaptation B: Building Layout + Story Idea

Using the 6 intial designs, I have organised them into the layout in which they'll be organised. This is only really to show what building is next to what, and so the distances between each building is something I'll work on. Just like in my very first drawings, there will be more than just these 6 buildings in the animation, and so there will be walls, fences and street lamps in between some of them.

My thinking behind this layout was so that it could lead to more of an interesting story and show the relationships between the characters:

Scrooge doesn't like to share his company with people, especially children, and so he restricts himself from as much contact with others as possible.  However, Miss Havisham, the ghostly figure that she is, haunts Mr Scrooge, as she is very much aware of his "past", where interacting with ghosts is concerned.  Miss Havisham's opinion of Oliver is split into two. When Miss Havisham looks over to Oliver she is often reminded of her adopted daughter, Estella, and her relationship to a boy named Pip. Although Oliver is scared of Miss Havisham's haunting appearance, he feels slight sympathy for her and realises what she has lost. Oliver is protected from the evil figures of Fagin and Uriah Heep by the strange, yet comforting, Mrs Gamp. Despite her lousiness and "tipsy" manner, Mrs Gamp cares for Oliver and treats him to the food that he so often craves. Fagin and Uriah Heep, the dastardly pairing, persistently mock Oliver and his lack of strength, as he requires a drunk old woman to protect him from them. In some instances, Scrooge joins in on the laughs and also mocks the low class Oliver - something that neither of Miss Havisham or Mrs Gamp appreciate.