Beginning the Drawing Process:

I had a look at people and characters who I thought had the characteristics of the character that I wanted to create. I started off creating an outline in Photoshop with the black brush tool. 

After that I began to add some colours to the grey scale drawing. I started with the skin colour and then added a colour to his top. I tried out grey and black to see what would look best. I think that the grey looks best but I may try out some other colours.  

Octonauts:

The character form Octonauts has simple facial features as it has eyes and a mouth. The body shape is made up of a circle that has been stretched. There is also some rounded rectangles for the fins of the creature. They eyes of the creature are made up of circles with smaller white circles inside of them. The colour of the creature is mainly blue with some different shades of blue for the fins/arms. The eyes and mouth are jet black which stand out on the character. 

Pokemon:

The character from Pokemon has a detailed face as it has some detailed eyes. The eyes have different shades of black and brown in them and are irregular eye shapes. The character also has small details on its face such as eye brows. The mouth is also much more detailed that the mouth of the Actonauts character. The turtle has a circular body with with rounded rectangles for its limbs. The body parts have details on them to make them stand out. The colours of the shell and body parts contrast well together. I think that the character from Pokemon is suitable for the show as it includes lots of strange and unusual creatures. This character is like a turtle but is shown differently. It fits the audience as it is aimed anyone as they will still enjoy the weird and strange characters. 

T.M.N.T:

The TNT characters are brightly coloured and have some armour and knee pads to protect them. They also have more human like limbs as they are very human like. They are very rectangular as they are represented as being strong. The colour of the TNT are dark green all over with things that cover their eyes. 

I think that the character design is appropriate for the show as it is aimed at children from around 8-10 years of age. I think this as the children wil want to see a complex character instead of a simple over exaggerated one. 

Adventure Time:

The character from Adventure Time  is made up from some simple shapes and stands human like.  The character is made up of a circle which has been stretched. There is also a circle for the turtles head. The turtle has some simple facial expressions as its eyes and mouth are made from simple shapes. The character has some simple limbs made from skinny rectangles which have been rounded. I think that the character from Adventure Time could have some more detailed facial features which would make the character look more real. But the show is aimed at 7-15 so the youngsters might want to see a simple character that is memorable to them. 

Ideas Feedback:

What did i think of the feedback that was given about my ideas?

I was given feedback by Sophie and Casper and they both said which idea that they thought was best. They also gave me other cartoon that i could watch to give me some more inspiration. I thought that the feedback process was good as my class mates gave me reasons why my ideas did or didn't work. It also went well as they gave me ideas of what i could add into specific ideas. For example, in my short film it would be good to add some slapstick comedy into the film. 

Which idea am i going to continue with?

I think that i am going to continue with my idea of creating a television series with the idea of having a group of teenage boys who are at the same school together. The idea will consist of the boys coming home from school and getting up to mischief round each others houses. In each episode something will go wrong and the group have to solve the problem.  

Character that i am going to develop:

Dumb character in the teenage group:

Summary of the character:
The dumb character of the group has no worries and doesn't think about what he is doing. He is loud and is always annoying others. He likes to play games but sometimes gets into trouble at school. 

Keywords:
Personality: Loud, busy, annoying, fast, dumb, silly, troublemaker, energetic. 

Characters that are like the characters I want to create:

Coming up with Ideas:

The Transporter:

The Transporter could have been inspired the films above. For example, the Fast and Furious films have some violence and girls in them and may have given the inspiration of the Transporter. Also other films such as Smokey and the Bandit and Gold Finger are also similar. There was a game created in 2009 called Hitman and it includes the Hitman holding 2 guns like the Transporter does.   

Idea Pitch:

The idea is to create a television series that includes a teenage group of friends. There is one dumb character in the group and he gets the Micky taken out of him. The show will feature the friends coming home from school and all going around one of the friends houses. The friends will get up to mischief and the dumb character will always get into trouble or something will happen to him. I have watched some show such as Recess and Rugrats. The episode will consist of the teens round one of the friends homes and the dumb character will do something and the team will have to find a solution to what he has done. The scene will only be set inside of a friends home. The characters will be in the friends bedroom and occasionally the lounge area of the home. The rooms will be drawn out and may have a sketchy look. The main character out of the main group of friends is the 'Dumb Character'. 

why will this be successful with other cartoon out now?

to complete



Idea 2:
Promotion for a new sports drink: 

Bear Cycle;

Bear Walk Cycle: AE

I firstly opened up Photoshop and imported the image and made sure all the body parts were labelled. In After Effects I imported the image and then altered the position of the anchor points on the different body parts of the bear. For example, I changed the anchor point from the centre of the arm to the top of the bear's shoulder. After I had done this to every essential body part I parented the body parts. After this I used a tool in AE called 'Puppet Pins'. This allowed me to add pins to any part of the bear. I then selected the body of the bear and moved it up ever so slightly. This was done s that when the bear walked the body would move up. After that I began to try to animate the head and other body parts. I used key frames, position and rotation to make the bear move. The process was time consuming and complicated at times but was good fun to have a first go at AE animation.

Animation Trends:

Animation Trends:

The Top Rated Shows on Cartoon Network:

 1) Ed, Edd and Eddy

Ed, Edd n  Eddy is a Canadian / American animated comedy series that was created by Danny Antonucci and produced by A.K.A Cartoon. It was first shown on the Cartoon Network on Jan 4th 1999. The series revolves around three teenage boys. Edd, Edd and Eddy who live in a suburban cul-de-sac. The genre of the animation is comedy / slapstick. I think that the show is aimed at teenagers. Teenagers ages from 13-16. I think this because the boys in the series are teenagers and may have experiences that the viewer has.

2) Adventure Time

Adventure Time is an American animated tv series. It was created by Pendleton Ward and is show on the Cartoon  Network. The series follows Finn a human boy and his best friend and adoptive brother and a dog with magical powers. The series genre is adventure and a comedy-drama. The target audience of Adventure Time I think is aimed at 5- 10 year olds. I think this as it can appeal to all young children as it will make them laugh and let their imagination run wild.

3) Regular Show
Regular Show is also an American Animated tv series that was created by J.G Quintel. It was made for Cartoon Network and premiered on September 6th 2010. The series is about two friends, (Blue Jay) and (Quintel) and a raccoon named Rigby. The series fits into the genre of comedy and surreal humour. I think that the series would be aimed at children ages from 8-12. I think this as it is humorous and the characters will appeal to children of that age.

The three most successful animated features at the box office in 2013:
 Frozen

Frozen was created in 2013 and is an American 3D computer- animated film. It was produced by Walt Disney Animated Classics. The film tells the story of a fearless princess who sets off on an epic journey alongside a mountain man. The film fits into different genres such as comedy, musical, fantasy and adventure. The film can be aimed at children and adults. If adults are interested in animation or the story they will probably view the film, but overall I think the film is aimed at children aged from 6-14. 

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me2 is also an American 3D computer animated film. It is the sequel to the 2010 animated film Despicable Me. The film was produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is about a secret laboratory near the Artic circle which is stolen by a strange vehicle using a giant magnet. The Anti villain League tries to get super villain Gru on side t steal it back. The film genre is comedy, fantasy, family, adventure film.

The Wind Rises

TheWind Rises was released in Japan as Kaze  Tachinu and is a Japenese animated historical drama that was written and directed by Hayao Miyazakai. It was adapted from his own manga of the same name and was loosely based on a 1937 short story. The film can fit into many genres such as War, historical, educational, animation and family. I think that the film will appeal to people who like animation and are interested in history. I don't think that it will appeal to young children because it is about war.

Most Watched Animation on Youtube:

When searching for the Most Watched Animation on Youtube there mas mixed results but I have written about Charlie and the Unicorn. The short film is a viral video and is a flash animated video. It was written and directed by Jason Steele of an Independent Film Company called FilmCow. The film is about the life of  Charlie the Unicorn and two other unicorns. I think that the genre of the animation is a comedy /fantasy and will appeal to anyone with a sense of humour and maybe younger children who like unicorns and the magical world.



 Conclusions:

Feature Films: 

There are many films that are sequels. Such as Cars and Cars2. The films also have an established audience and are viewed by families. There is usually merchandise made after the films have been released. Items such as tshirts, toys, books. All of the latest feature films are all computer animated. 

TV Shows:

Most of the animated tv shows are American made and are aimed at the teenage market. This is because there are no obvious morals. They are very episodic and in every episode something has to be solved. The episodes are adventurous and include fantasy scenes. 

Web:

There are many animations online that are aimed at young children. For example there is an animation of young babies in the bath singing a funny song. Young children will want to watch them over and over again. 

After Effects 'Yeah Boy'

 After Effects Animation:

I tried an animation in AE to make a character move with mouth movements. I used photoshop to draw the different mouths to say the saying 'Yeah boy' in a particular way and then I had to apply it in After Effects. I tried using Time Remapping. After trial and experiment I had something have decent but I found it particular difficult to get my head around.

Character Design:

Character Design:

Character design the combination of physical traits and narrative. Look of the character has to be informed by personality and context (Genre, location).

"A face is the primary channel to express emotion of a person." (Colman) Hense the big headed cartoon characters. 

"A lot can be said in the posture and body language." Colman

Solarski:

"Hands are a effective way in expressing personality  How a character carries their weight also informs us about their personality - particularly which body part they lead with."

Solarski

Body Parts:

Chest: 
Confidents, strength, heroic. 

If a character moves with their chest it suggests that they are very confident and strong. They are usually heroic

Hurcules

Pelvis:
Lazy, laid back.

Goofy

Head:
Intelligence

Phineas from Phineas and Ferb

Knees:
Cowardice  

Dr Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb:

Power and dominance revolve around expanding:
Power: Take space up and expand. 

Weakness: Making small, taking less space. 

Character Analysis:

 

 

Rotoscope with Process:

Rotoscope:

I went out with two classmates Reece and Ben to record some footage to use in After Effects. To begin with we didn't know what to record ourselves ding but then we came up with the idea of playing football and doing some skills with the ball. Ben recorded me doing a few kick-ups. We then recorded each other and then went back to the classroom to upload our clips to our laptops. I opened up PS and imported my HD film clip. I changed the frame number so that I didn't have hundreds of frame to rotoscope. Then I clicked on my first layer and created a new layer on top. This then let me draw over the original frame of my clip without drawing on the original clip. I used a graphics tablet with its pen to draw over myself frame by frame. I have uploaded a screenshot of one of my first frames. Due to there being a lot of frames to complete I haven't uploaded my moving images as it isn't finished.

I had the original footage below the new layer that i had created. I had the original footage showing so that i could see what i needed to draw. 

In the image above is my animation coming together. In the white are the frames that have been drawn on and are good. 

GIFS

GIF: Graphics Interchange Format:

 

PROS
The GIF format has 256 different colours that can be used. The format also used lossless compression and can be used for logos and flat areas of colours with a well defined regions. GIF format is suitable for icons that have a dew colours in them. GIFS are suitable for small animations and support transparency. GIFs show something that has never been seen before and allows a moment to live on.
CONS
GIF is the oldest format on the web - 1989 and in most cases GIFs take up lots of memory with big file sizes.

Chosen Video with GIFs:

GIF of boy getting knocked over by a dog in the water - I like how the GIF is short and keeps going on forever. The GIF was created to be funny and I think that the GIF is relatively funny as it shows the boy falling into the water over and over again. I also like how the GIF is repeated and the sped up. This is for humour and it makes the GIF funnier. The video also has audio behind the GIF. As the young boy falls into the water with the dog the soundtrack is 'I get knocked down'. This is also for humour but I think that it really works.

Is the GIF format a valid expression of are GIFs created for a laugh?

I think that different GIFs are created for different reasons. For example. some GIFs are created to make you laugh. For example, I create a GIF of Delboy falling over the bar and played it forever. Some GIFs are created to put on companies websites for advertising reasons. Overall, I think that GIFs are a valid expression and should be used.

Below are some GIFS that I have created:

To create these GIFS I imported my recorded footage into Photoshop. I then selected the small section of clip that I wanted to make into a GIF. After that I selected the 'forever' pre-set. This would mean that the GIF I had created would keep repeating forever. The rocket GIF was slightly different to the video GIFs. With this GIF each part was on a different layer. For each frame I had to select what I wanted to be in the frame. To start with I put in the number three. I Then moved onto 2 and then 1. I then added the word Launch and then the rocket. The rocket was moved up the frame so that the rocket would go upwards.  After adding all the parts I sped up the GIF from 0.5s to 0.2s. This made the animation quicker and made it look better.

 

 

 

 

 

Animation Comparison:

Processes:

SouthPark:

When creating a Southpark episode the first stage begins with creating storyboards with character designs. Every joke and idea is thought about and the characters are positioned accordingly in the shots. A script is then completed with the drawn camera shots. The character designs are then finished to the standard that the team are happy with. Then the designs are sent over to be lipsinked to the characters. After this the animation begins. The characters heads, arms, eyes and other body parts are animated according to the script. An animatic is created to give a sense of timing and see if the shots work well together. 



Dot:

The worlds smallest animation was shot on a Nokia N8 smartphone with a microscope. Dot was a small resin model that was 9mm tall. There were over 50 replacement models just encase one was damaged during shots. How was the Dot animation shot? The team took  a Dot model and put her at the start of the setting. Then they moved her out of the scene and put another positioned Dot in her place. This is how they go their shots. The character of Dot was created using a 3D printer using thousands of layers of resin. Before the models were made there were 2D drawings made. The 2D drawings were then given to the 3D modeller. Once the printer had produced the models they were carefully painted. After painting the shots began. The phone in its mount didn't move but the scene moved along. After thousands of shots editing took place and titles, credits and music were added.


Pepa Pig:

Phil Davies and Mark Baker firstly come together and think of ideas that they want to put into episodes for the show. They begin with storyboards with show the characters in poses. This then makes it easier to create camera shots. Colours and background is thought about to see what will look then best on screen. Then the expensive programme Celacton 2D is opened up and the animation begins. The animators get to work and get the animals moving the way the director wants them to. Voice recordings are then imported to give the characters speech. Editing and titles then happens. At the end of a week the main members come together and see what they have got and see what could be improved before they have a final product. 

Animation Process:

Animation Process:

1) Idea, brief, treatment and production plannning:

This is the pre-production phase. The idea has to get commissioned with a brief. Then a written treatment is made to sell the product. Then a script is written with an outline budget. 

2) Concept Design: 

Comcept design will often start during the pre-production phase. This is the first stage of the design. Preliminary work is carried out to illustrate both the narrative and possible visual treatment of the project.

3) Storyboarding: The director of the project will work closely with the storyboard artist to visualise the script that tells the story. The storyboard illustrates the narrative and composes the shots of the film. 

4) Production Design:

The production designer will develop the style of the production and produce the final designs for both the characters and the environments. 

5) recording the dialogue: 

The producer and director will choose the voices and the director will supervise the recording session. This is usually attended by the editor. 

6) Building Models: 

From the agreed designs, the modellers will translate the drawings and start to build the CG models of the characters and settings.

7) Layout and Animatics:

The first part is done with the story reel or an animatic. In stop frame it is likely to become the working reel and there will be no layouts.

8) Animation: The animation starts when the layouts have been approved. Also the models, voice track and timings have to be agreed. The director of animation will assign scenes to animators who will produce the images.

9) Backgrounds: The final colour backgrounds can be produced from the approved layouts. They reflect the production designs and are supervised by the art director.

10) Lighting: Lighting is s very important stage of CG. It is dictating the final colour and atmosphere of each shot. 

11) Post Production: During the post production phase music will be recorded with sound effects finalised. The digital picture is combined with the soundtrack as an edit master and can then be output either at broadcast standard or onto film. 

Researching Pixar:

Pixar Animation Studios Research:

Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation studio that is based in Emeryville, California. The studios are best known for its CGI animated feature films that have been created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan. This is its own industry standard RenderMan image-rendering application programme. 

The company Pixar began in 1979 as a Graphics Group which was part of the computer division of Lucasfilm before it spun out as a corporation in 1986. It began to be a corporation with help and funding from Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve became its majority shareholder. Pixar have produced 14 feature films. Their first film they created was called 'Toy Story' that was created in 1995. All of their films have received both critical and financial success. One of the best being Cars 2 which was commercially successful. In 1982 the Pixar team began working on different film sequences with Light and Magic on special effects. After many years of research the group of 40 individuals became the pixar corporation with Steve Job's $5 million investment. George Lucas sale may have been to his divorce in 1983 which coincided eith the sudden loss in revenues from Star Wars licenses. 

Pixar and Disney had many disagreements after the production of the film Toy Story 2. It was originally intended as a straight to video release. The film was eventually upgraded to a theatrical release during the production of the film. Pixar then demanded that the film should be counted towards the three-picture agreement. Disney refused. It was profitable for both but later Pixar complained  that the agreement was not equitable. The company Pixar was responsible for the creation and production and Disney took care of marketing and distribution. 

Pixar create films that can be enjoyed by all of the family. The films are animated and are visual for the viewer. The films need to be open to all audiences as the young children that the films appeal to don't have money to go to the cinema to view the film. There are many words to put their films into a genre, for example:

• Fantasy
• Comedy
• Family
• Animation
• Buddy Film
• Adventure Film

There are many significant Pixar films made and some of them I remember watching when I was younger. For example, the original Toy Story in 1995 won the best animation award. it also won many other awards such as the  Tox Box Office Films of 1995 Award and Best Voiceover Performance by a Young Actress. When reviews of the film came out they were entirely positive. they praised both the animations technical innovation and the screenplay's sophistication. Many critics say that the film is one of the best animated films ever made. This is a film that sticks out in my mind form when I was younger as I can remember watching it with my Mum and younger Sister. Another film created in 1998 was also very successful. 'A Bug's Life' won the best family film and golden screen award in 1999. I also had this film on video and remember watching it with the family. I can clearly remember the design of the characters and the soundtrack of the film. The well known animated film 'Monsters Inc.' was also very successful. It won the Top Box Office Films of 2002 Award and the best family award. This is a film that I have grown up with as it was around when I was younger and I remember all the characters and the storyline. In 2013 a new Monsters Inc. was created and it brought back some childhood memories. I also went to see the film and still enjoyed it.

Pixar advertise their productions well to make people aware of their brand and their latest films. For example, Pixar have collaborated with Sky Satellite TV to create a television advert. The advert is advertising Sky's broadband service and shows the Toy Story characters all using an old WIFI connection all at the same time. The WIFI router then blows up as it cannot handle any more data usage. Then Sky's new offer appears on screen with the characters in the dark. At the end of the add is the title of the new Toy Story film. 'Toy Story of Terror'.

Pixar also produce trailers for their films giving a viewer a small taste of what the film may be like. They also produce large sign boards to be displayed in cities and on the sides of buses.  These have details and images of the latest film on them. For some of the more successful films there has been toys and merchandise produced. I have still got a large toy figure of Buzz Lightyear and Woody form Toy Story and still like having them. Merchandise has been made for Toy Story, Cars, Monsters Inc. and A Bug's Life.

How have the feature films been made?

A artist begins to draw out the shot using a story board. The image is a rough drawing of where the characters are going to be and what is going to be in the background of the shot. The next stage is turning the storyboard into a colour script. A colour script highlights the main colours that will be in that shot. Once the script and colours have been decided the modelling process begins. This is when the characters are created by the technical directors to add shading. This will make the characters have more dimension for when they are lit up. The layout stage is completed entirely on the computer. The characters are placed based on the camera angle and the space that the characters fit in. After that, the characters are stimulated which brings them to life. This is everything from the background to the detail on the characters bodies. This will make the characters seem real and look alive. The final step is getting the lighting correct. The way that a scene is lit brings all the elements together. This is a complicated process as there may be many lights is scenes.

Other technology Used:

RenderMan: 

RenderMan is both a software and a application programming interface. It can render ray-traced scenes and animations which contain reflection, coloured light and coloured surfaces such as hair or fur. It can also carry out lens distortions but this can take many hours, day, weeks, months or years. For animations the frame rate and total time period of the animation film can also extend the total render time.

Opensubdiv:

OpenSubdiv is a set of open source libraries. They implement high-performance subdivision surface evaluation on huge parallel CPU and GPU architectures. There is a code path that is optimised for drawing deforming subdivs. The resulting limit surface matches Pixar's PenderMan programme to numerical precision. The code also embodies decades of research and experience carried out by Pixar.