9 July 2018

Collaboration Resit - Final Submission


This is my final submission for my Collaboration Resit. As you can tell, I have refined some of the movements the Moom model makes, as well as changed some of the camera cuts. I feel this version flows more smoothly and looks better in general than the previous one.

Technical Difficulties - Final Submission

Animatic:


Production Bible:


3D Digital Test Piece:

Technical Difficulties - Final Animatic


This is the final Animatic for Technical Difficulties. I feel it adequately considers the potential of animation, with arrows showing the characters turning to each other or looking off to the side when they speak, as well as the picture in the Antique Shop now falling down. I also animated the Cash Register drawer opening and moving side-to-side, to simulate a person moving things over a scanner at a more modern checkout.

8 July 2018

Technical Difficulties - Production Bible


This is my finalised Production Bible for "Technical Difficulties". I followed this production bible to help me structure it. I made sure to include as much of my work as I could, adding in little biographies for each of the characters, to give them more backstory and do some more world-building.

Technical Difficulties - Penultimate Animatic

This is the penultimate Animatic for my Technical Difficulties project. I will go back in and add a couple of things to the final one, notably the picture falling down in one of the Antique Shop scenes, as well as adding arrows to show the characters turning and moving as they speak.

1 July 2018

Collaboration Resit - Updated Idea


I decided to have a globe fall down into the Moom model's hands on the word "sphere", then, when he says the word "circle", he squashes it, creating a Flat Earth.

Technical Difficulties - TV Basic Turnaround


Basic turnaround of the TV Model I have made for Technical Difficulties.

Technical Difficulties - Basic Antique Shop Mock-Up


Here is a basic mock-up of the "Antique Shop" set. I have modelled the TV completely, and currently have a cube as a placeholder for the Cash Register. I have used 2 Spot Lights, both with Raytrace Shadows, at a Light Radius of 1 and Shadow Rays of 40.

30 June 2018

Technical Difficulties - Character Bios

I have written short biographies for each of the characters in the animation. This helps with the world-building, and fleshes the characters out a lot more. It will also aid me in structuring how they move in a scene, and how they might interact with the other objects.

The OBS Machine:
The OBS Machine is a fairly young piece of technology. Situated in a hospital just outside of London, they experience a mix of old and new, with the patient records being on paper, and the latest machines. Despite the newer tehcnology being somewhat confusing, they enjoy helping people and making a difference to someone’s life.

The Cash Register:
The Cash Register is an older, manual model, nowhere near as high-tech as the cash registers of today - she’s from the days where you had to count everything out in your brain, without a computer to do it for you! She’s perfectly happy with the way she is and the way things are for her, and isn’t at all motivated to move on with the times.

The Television:
The Television, like the Cash Register, isn’t the latest model - he’s older than most, a little clunky, and only gets 3 stations. He’s happy with those 3, and doesn’t see the need for hundreds of other channels that just repeat everything he’s already seen. He is perfectly fine with the technology he has, and isn’t going to trade it up for anything.

The TV Remote:
The TV Remote is paired up with a fancy new “Smart TV”, so he knows all about the latest apps, games and channels. He has playful banter with the DVD remote from time to time, taking the mick out of his leaky batteries, or just generally showing off. The TV remote could not be happier with the modern technology he’s connected to, and thinks it’s fantastic.

The DVD Remote:
The DVD Remote is connected up to a standard DVD Player. He’s particularly miffed about his family using streaming services like Netflix, instead of sticking a disc in the DVD player. He hasn’t been used in a while because of this. He just wants things to go back to how they were, although he wasn’t fond of the My Little Pony DVD they put in the player last time.

Technical Difficulties - TV Colour Keys


Colour Keys for my TV Character. I will decide which one I think works best, then try various weathering effects on it, and pick the final design after that second stage

29 June 2018

Collaboration Resit - Concept

For my collaboration resit piece, I am going to be basing my animation around the Flat Earth Society. The Moom character will be giving a talk on the Flat Earth Society, trying to convince members to join. Whilst he is talking, there will be various Posters, Diagrams, and Newspaper clippings, with red string tying them all together, like this:


There will be different angles of the speaker, but we will not see the audience - this is, in a way, making the animation more "personal" and "direct" - he is speaking to just the viewer, no-one else.

As you may have seen from the previous posts, I have already given the Moom model some form of a costume - I am thinking of adding a tin-foil hat to the character, to really sell and emphasise the "conspiracy nut" angle of his character.

28 June 2018

25 June 2018

Collaboration Resit - Facial Animation


Collaboration Resit - Lip Sync Progress from Joe Warrilow on Vimeo.

Progress of the animation I am doing for my Collaboration Resit.

Collaboration Resit - Set Progress


This is a work-in-progress shot of the set for my collaboration resit. The red string going between the different squares (which will later be newspaper articles, images, etc) is done on a single plane. I achieved this by taking a screenshot of the squares in the "Front" viewport, pasting it into Photoshop, and creating the lines between them on a separate layer. I then exported that layer out as a 'png', and applied it to the plane.

20 June 2018

Collaboration Resit - Audio Clip

For my resit of the collaboration project, I have chosen this clip from the 11 second club.

http://www.11secondclub.com/competitions/february15#

The moment I listened to this clip, I knew what I wanted to do for the animated skit. I want to somehow involve the "Flat Earth Society" - involving some sort of conspiracy theorist character. I will begin work on designing the set and characters tomorrow.

12 June 2018

Technical Difficulties - Lip Syncing Progress


Technical Difficulties - Lip Sync Progress from Joe Warrilow on Vimeo.

Here is some progress on my Animatic for my premise project. I am working on lip-syncing the characters, as they do not have much movement. They have basic turns and such, but do not do much else, so by creating a lip sync, it will help bring the characters ti life.

I will also add in various eye/eyebrow movements to complement the lip sync, plus it allows the characters to get more emotion across. This idea came from Wallace & Gromit - Gromit doesn't have a mouth, and never speaks, only "talking" through his various facial expressions. I will also be taking cues from "The Brave Little Toaster" on how to bring my inanimate objects to life. I believe that this will help make the characters in my piece more expressive, and will mean that the animatic, as well as the final piece, isn't static and boring.

18 May 2018

Maya 201: Caustics

Maya 201: Toolkit 2 Submission

Pipeline 1:

Head Modelling
  • Part 1
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
  • Part 4 (To be completed)
  • Part 5 (To be completed)
  • Part 6 (To be completed)
Body Modelling
UV Layout
  • Part 1 (To be completed)
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
Skinning
  • Part 1 (To be completed)
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
  • Part 4 (To be completed)
  • Part 5 (To be completed)
  • Part 6 (To be completed)
  • Part 7 (To be completed)
Rigging
  • Part 1 (To be completed)
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
Facial Rigging
  • Part 1 (To be completed)
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
  • Part 4 (To be completed)
  • Part 5 (To be completed)
  • Part 6 (To be completed)
  • Part 7 (To be completed)
  • Part 8 (To be completed)
  • Part 9 (To be completed)
  • Part 10 (To be completed)
  • Part 11 (To be completed)
  • Part 12 (To be completed)
  • Part 13 (To be completed)
Texturing
  • Part 1 (To be completed)
  • Part 2 (To be completed)
  • Part 3 (To be completed)
  • Part 4 (To be completed)
  • Part 5 (To be completed)
  • Part 6 (To be completed)
  • Part 7 (To be completed)
  • Part 8 (To be completed)
Turnarounds
  •  (To be completed)
Lighting & Rendering 2
InfoGraphics

Maya 201: AOVs

Maya 201: Displacement Map





Maya 201: Body Modelling - Redo Part 6

Maya 201: Body Modelling - Redo Part 5

Maya 201: Body Modelling - Redo Part 4

15 May 2018

10 May 2018

Technical Difficulties: Reflective Statement



Throughout this project, I have enjoyed all aspects - from collecting the snippets of audio, fine-tuning them, to building the world that the objects live in. There have been several hiccups and setbacks, but I feel that I pushed through them to the best of my abilities, especially considering that Technical Difficulties was not the film that I was originally considering to produce for this project/third year. I am confident in moving forward, more so than I have been before with a project. I've finally realised the thing I am best at whilst working on animations - creating comedy. It's no secret that the voices did a lot of the work with this project, but after combing through the different clips, I was able to find a good cadence and rhythm that would allow the film to flow naturally between segments, generating laughs along the way.

After listening to the feedback given at my Crit Presentation, these are the things I have decided to reflect and work on, moving forward over the Summer and into Third Year;

To start things off, the piece is too long. At first, I was happy with it being around the 7-8 minute mark. However, after watching it in front of the crowd, and gauging their reactions, as well as the feedback from Alan & Phil, I completely agree that cuts need to be made. The first character that will be removed from the piece is the Phone. Originally, I thought him speaking more as the object, rather than himself, was a good thing, as it added some variety to the piece. The overall opinion from the Crit, however, was that it was too obvious that the person voicing him was acting, that it was too forced. So, the Phone character will be removed from this point forward.

The second character that will not be in the final piece will be the Drone. The guest judge at the Crit made the very valid point that, whilst the other voices were talking more about technology and that side of the characters' lives, the Drone didn't really speak about the technology side of things at all. So, after some careful consideration, the Drone will no longer be in the piece. A point that was brought up when talking about the removal of characters was the removal of one of the scenes in the Hospital. I feel that, out of the three segments featuring the Hospital, if I had to remove only one of them, I would probably remove the first one, so that what is left is the OBS Machine talking about Hospitals and everyday life becoming more digitalised, and talking about motivation, which allows a smooth segue into the final scene with the Cash Register and Television.

With all of these cuts (including removing the unsavoury reference to Pingu), the audio will go from a total of 07:47, down to ~05:00, which is definitely much more manageable, from both my perspective and the audiences'. I need to produce more thumbnails and designs for the characters and environments, creating the final production and character art to carry into the Third Year. I will probably use these pieces of art in the revised version of the animatic, so that it comes across as far more professional and polished than the current one.

After the animatic is revised and out of the way, and the Character Designs have been finalised, I will knuckle down on getting the lip syncing done. I will have to get some basic 3D Models of the characters done first, so that the mouths can be sized and styled accordingly. The lip-syncing will most likely be done through the use of animated textures, rather than trying to model and rig a full face for each character. I feel that by doing it this way, it will fit more with the style and surroundings, rather than be completely out of left field, detracting from the audio and other effort that will be put in - whilst Creature Comforts is an obvious inspiration, I don't want it to look too much like it, or for people to only be thinking about that whilst watching my final film.

All in all, this project ended up going better than expected, so I will take all of my feedback on board, and I look forward to working on Technical Difficulties over the summer, and bringing it to life in my final year!

Onwards and Upwards...

Ethel and Earnest: A Review

Fig 1. Ethel and Ernest (2016) [Poster]

Ethel & Ernest (2016) is a feature length animation by Raymond Briggs which is based on the simple and unremarkable story of the lives and marriage of his parents Ethel and Ernest. It follows their lives from when they met and married in 1928, into the 1930s when they bought their one and only house, and Raymond, their only child, was born.

Raymond Briggs is an English illustrator, graphic novelist and author born in 1934. After finishing his studies at Wimbledon School of Art, and completing his National Service, he returned to study Fine Art at University College, London, graduating in 1957. Briggs then became an illustrator for children’s books and subsequently gained great critical acclaim for his book ‘The Snowman’ in 1978 which was developed into a short animated film, and for a subsequent work, ‘Fungus the Bogeyman’.

The story of Ethel and Ernest is a soft meander and reflection on their lives together, dealing with life, with their son, and tragedy including Ethel developing Alzheimer’s and ultimately the death of both Ethel and Ernest in 1971.The film doesn’t ponder on, or explain, any particular issue in detail, moving on to the next stage in the characters’ lives. In a review on Variety in December the following year, Dennis Harvey commented:

“It’s admirable that the film avoids melodrama as neatly as it does excess sentimentality, but irksome that the rare instances of organic narrative conflict (when juvenile Raymond is collared by the police for petty theft, or the later revelation of his fiancée’s schizophrenia) get introduced only to go entirely unexplained and unexplored.”
- Harvey (2017)

The story of Briggs parents was first captured in his award winning graphic novel, titled ‘Ethel & Ernest’ in 1998. The 103-page book was developed into a 95-minute film. The film starts with a personal introduction from Briggs before moving onto the hand drawn animation, the style of which is soft and warm, with the script written by Roger Mainwood. The warm familiarity of the film is aided by the casting of Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent, who were so true to character that Briggs was reduced to tears during recording.

Fig 2. Ethel and Earnest (2016) [Film Still]

In order to reduce the amount of work in producing the backgrounds, and improve consistency, Robin Shaw, the Art Director, devised a system of ‘papering’ walls with hand painted textures, and covering the floor areas with tiled, carpet or linoleum painted textures.

Ethel and Ernest was well received critically and had an audience of 4.5 million viewers when broadcast during Christmas 2016 on BBC1.



Bibliography
Harvey, D. (2017) Film Review: Ethel and Earnest. [Online] At: http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/ethel-and-ernest-review-1202643201/ (Accessed on 09.05.18)

Illustration List
Figure 1. Ethel and Earnest (2016) [Poster] At: http://all-allam.com/roger-allam-film/ethel-and-ernest-roger-allam/ (Accessed on 09.05.18)
Figure 2. Ethel and Earnest (2016) [Film Still] At: http://www.ethelandernestthemovie.com/ (Accessed on 09.05.18)

Belleville Rendez-Vous: A Review

Fig 1. Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003) [Poster]

Belleville Rendez-Vous is a 2003 animated feature film by Frenchman Sylvain Chomet. Madame Souza is an elderly grandmother raising her young grandson named Champion, who has lost his parents. Souza tries to cheer him up by trying to interest him in the piano, but with only limited success, so then decides to get him a puppy to see if that will improve his mood. The puppy, named Bruno, does initially cheer him up, but he soon slips back into a permanent state of sadness. Souza subsequently discovers that Champion has a keen interest in cycle racing and decides to get him a tricycle. This has a positive effect and his interest develops to the point where, in time, he becomes a professional cyclist with his Grandmother, Souza, as his coach. His cycling skills improve and he enters the Tour de France but he, along with two other riders, is kidnaped during the race and held by the French Mafia in the city of Belleville who make the riders race on stationery cycling machines so that they can gamble on the outcomes. In her search for Champion, Souza meets with the Belleville Triplets, now elderly performers, once having been jazz performers from the 1930’s. The Triplets, Souza and Bruno eventually infiltrate the Mafia hideout to rescue Champion.

“To call it weird would be a cowardly evasion. It is creepy, eccentric, eerie, flaky, freaky, funky, grotesque, inscrutable, kinky, kooky, magical, oddball, spooky, uncanny, uncouth and unearthly. Especially uncouth.”
- (Ebert 2003)

Sylvain Chomet was born in Paris and moved to London in 1988 to work in animation, quickly establishing a freelance practice with several large corporate clients. Chomet also produced comics, such as ‘Secrets of the Dragonfly’ in 1986. In 1993 Chomet wrote a story that was illustrated by Nicholas de Crecy, with whom he had collaborated on other projects. However, their partnership ended when de Crecy accused Chomet of plagiarizing his work as the visual style of ‘The Triplets of Bellville’ very closely resembled de Crecy’s earlier work.

Fig 2. Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003) [Film Still]

The hand drawn style of the characters within the film is unusual, with certain features and proportions significantly exaggerated or distorted. The whole visual atmosphere is as though much of the colour has been drained away, leaving a dry sepia effect for much of the film.

“Most animated features have an almost grotesque desire to be loved. This one doesn't seem to care. It creates a world of selfishness, cruelty, corruption and futility -- but it's not serious about this world and it doesn't want to attack it or improve upon it. It simply wants to sweep us up in its dark comic vision.”
- (Ebert, 2003)

The film received many good reviews and critical praise. It was Oscar nominated in 2004 in the categories ‘Best Music’ (for its original jazz musical score by Benoit Charest) and ‘Best Animated Feature’, losing out to Finding Nemo. It also achieved a BAFTA nomination the same year for ‘Best Film not in the English Language’. A subsequent film by Chomet, The Illusionist in 2011, was also Oscar nominated but again lost out –on this occasion to Toy Story 3.



Bibliography
Ebert, R. (2003) The Triplets of Belleville [Online] At: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-triplets-of-belleville-2003 (Accessed 09.05.18)
Ebert, R. (2003) The Triplets of Belleville [Online] At: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-triplets-of-belleville-2003 (Accessed 09.05.18)

Illustration List
Figure 1. Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003) [Poster] At: http://i.imgur.com/TGXlwTX.jpg (Accessed 09.05.18)
Figure 2. Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003) [Film Still] At: https://www.intofilm.org/films/2737 (Accessed 09.05.18)

9 May 2018

Mary & Max: A Review

Fig 1. Mary and Max (2009) [Poster]


Written and directed by Adam Elliot, Mary and Max (2009) is a stop-motion film about two very unlikely friends – Mary, a sad, lonely eight-year-old from Melbourne, and Max, an autistic (and grossly overweight) forty-four-year old living in New York. Mary and Max (2009) is the very first animated film to open for the Sundance Film Festival. Over its lifetime, it has won 4 awards, and received 9 nominations in various categories.

The film received excellent reviews, with a 95% total rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an average 4.2/20 from nearly 25,000 regular users of the site. The film was only theatrically released in Australia, with a home video release a year later in 2010. Mary and Max managed to gross $1.7 million USD worldwide. Unfortunately, the budget for the film was $8.2 million AUD, which is roughly $6.1 million USD. So, despite the favourable reviews, awards and nominations, the film didn't even manage to make back a quarter of its budget.

Fig 2. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still]

Mary and Max spans nearly 2 decades, chronicling each and every interaction between the pair, as well as showing us into their personal lives, and the troubles that affect them. Max attends “Overeaters Anonymous” classes, where a woman consistently makes advances towards him, much to his distaste, leaving him feeling particularly disturbed. Mary’s mother is a kleptomaniac and a drunk. It is when Mary’s mother is “buying” some envelopes form the post office, that she decides to write a letter to someone in America. Right after she chooses the name “Max Horowitz” at random from the telephone book, her mother is caught stealing, and decides to hastily exit the post office, dragging Mary behind her. Mary manages to grab the address from the phone book just as she is pulled out the door.

“Rooted in the fact and by turns touching, bleak and droll . . . . Tackling such un-animation topics as loneliness, body image, alcoholism, suicide and Asperger’s syndrome, it’s quirky, compassionate and slightly seedily sweet.”
– Parkinson, 2010

They continue writing to each other for several years, and Max’s life continues to improve, whereas Mary’s gets much worse. Her father passes away, her many attempts to gain her neighbour Damien’s romantic attention go horribly wrong, and her mother drinks formaldehyde instead of sherry. This final event encourages Damien to comfort her, and the two end up falling in love, and get married. Whilst at university, Mary decides to write her thesis on Asperger’s, with Max as her case study. This causes Max to get angry, and the pair have a huge falling out.

On top of this, Damien leaves Mary for his pen pal, Desmond, and moves away with him. Mary ties a noose, and prepares to hang herself. She is caught off guard by her neighbour Len, who has brought a package to her door – it’s from Max, and he’s written a letter of apology, as well as sent her his entire figure collection. Along with her new baby, Mary travels to New York to visit Max. She opens the door to his apartment, and finds him sitting on the sofa, having passed away peacefully that morning. She follows his gaze to see that he has pasted every letter she wrote to him on his ceiling.

“This movie is an act of tenderness that will linger long after the closing credits roll”
– Giles, 2009
Fig 3. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still]



Bibliography
Giles, J. (2009) MARY AND MAX Review [Online] At: http://collider.com/mary-and-max-review/
Parkinson, D. (2010) Mary And Max Review [Online] At: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/mary-max/review/ (Accessed 09.05.18)

Illustration List
Fig  1. Mary and Max (2009) [Poster] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm1527398144 (Accessed 09.05.18)
Fig 2. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm873207040 (Accessed 09.05.18)
Fig 3. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm3291875072 (Accessed 09.05.18)

Waltz with Bashir: A Review

Fig 1. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Poster]

Written and directed by Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir (2008) is an animated documentary based on Folman attempting to recall traumatic events that occurred one night in September 1982 when he was just 19. During that night, over 3000 Palestinian refugees were massacred by Christian Militia. The area was surrounded by soldiers from the Israeli army, who let the Militia into the refugee camps. Folman was one of those Israeli soldiers and witnessed the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Twenty years on, Folmans memory of the events of that night are blank and he implies, through the film, that the Israelis have also intentionally blanked these events from their minds.

“Over the past quarter-century, the massacre's horror has been absorbed and repressed within the Israeli mind, Folman suggests, but only partly. The very concept of Israel's partial or indirect guilt, established by the government's own Kahan commission, and therefore a guilt which Israel can concede without admitting to direct culpability, makes it a uniquely painful and potent subject. It's a reproach drifting just beneath the surface of memory and liable to break cover at any time.” 
- (Bradshaw 2008)

Folman embarks on a process of tracing and talking to old friends and contacts, including an expert in post-traumatic stress, to try to piece together the truth about himself and the role he played in those events, which proves to be shocking and ugly. Folman was well placed to understand the horror of the massacre as both his parents had survived the Holocaust.

Fig 2. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Film Still]

The film took around 4 years to complete and is animated apart from one section of archive news footage. The animation style is unusual, using standard animation combined with Adobe Flash. Each drawing was dissected into many hundreds of parts which were then moved around in relation to the other cut parts of the image, which gave the impression of movement. This technique was developed in Israel by Yoni Goodman at the Bridgit Folman Film Gang Studio.


Fig 3. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Film Still]

The film had a mixed reaction – some audiences found the subject matter contentious and uncomfortable. However, the film attracted many awards including a Golden Globe in 2009 for Best Foreign Film, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA) in 2008 for Best Foreign Independent Film, and in 2009 the Directors Guild of America for outstanding directing.


Bibliography
Bradshaw, P. (2008) Waltz with Bashir [Online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/21/waltz-with-bashir-folman (Accessed 08.05.18)

Illustration List
Fig 1. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Poster] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616/?ref_=nv_sr_1 (Accessed 08.05.18)
Fig 2. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616/mediaviewer/rm498439168 (Accessed 08.05.18)
Fig 3. Waltz with Bashir (2008) [Film Still] At: https://www.curzonartificialeye.com/waltz-with-bashir/ (Accessed 08.05.18)

Paprika: A Review

Fig 1. Paprika (2006) [Poster]
Paprika (2006) is a 2D animated film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is fundamentally a surrealist film focusing on reality and dreams merging, being based on the 1993 novel Paprika written by Yasukata Tsutui.

A machine has been developed that allows therapists to enter the dreams of a patient, enabling the mind of the patient to be probed to reveal their inner most thoughts, desires and repressed memories. Using the machine, called the DC mini, the therapists aim to cure various psychological problems.


Fig 2. Paprika (2006) [Still]

As the plot unfolds, the technology is stolen and the characters involved in developing the machine, Dr Atsuko Chiba (who’s dream persona is Paprika) and Kosaku Tokita realise that the machine has been used on others around them as they become aware of behavioral changes completely out of character. The machine, in the wrong hands, could be used to influence behaviour and events in specific individuals in a type of mental/physiological terrorism. Assisted by a patient who has been receiving treatment for a recurring dream, Officer Konakawa, they team up to explore the real world, and the depths of the dream world in order to identify the culprit and restore order.


In the world of Japanese animation, which generally welcomes experimental weirdness, Kon is renowned for being particularly weird and experimental. Like David Lynch - a film-maker Kon is frequently compared to - he is obsessed with the dreaming mind.
- Naylor, 2008

The film Inception (2010) written and directed by Christopher Nolan, has clearly been influenced by Paprika – both films use a piece of electronic equipment to get into the dreams of the subject with the aim of influencing change. Some scenes are almost identical in Inception, presumably as a homage to Paprika. For example, in Paprika, Konakawa dreams of a man who is suspended above the floor during a fall in a hotel hallway and in Inception, characters fight midair in the same hotel hallway setting.


Fig 3. Paprika (2006) [Gif of Transition]

Satoshi Kon was a master at editing, and it shows in this film. His quick cuts and seamless transitions add to the dream-like quality of the film, immersing the audience in the reality he chose to present at that moment. Kon's work was about the interaction between dreams, memories, nightmares, movies, and life. The opening four minutes of Paprika (2006) has five dream sequences, and every single one is connected by a match cut. For comparison, the opening fifteen minutes of Inception (2010) has only four interconnected dreams, with just one match cut. Over the course of ten years, he pushed animation in ways that aren't really possible in live action. Not just elastic images, but elastic editing - a unique way of moving from image to image, scene to scene.



Bibliography:
Naylor, A. (2008) Paprika: the stuff of dreams for filmgoers [Online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/jun/17/paprikathestuffofdreamsfo (Accessed 08.05.18)

Illustration List:
Fig 1. Paprika (2006) [Poster] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851578/?ref_=nv_sr_1 (Accessed 08.05.18)
Fig 2. Paprika (2006) [Still] At: https://images.justwatch.com/backdrop/8545857/s1440/paprika (Accessed 08.05.18)
Fig 3. Paprika (2006) [Gif] At https://youtu.be/oz49vQwSoTE?t=2m15s (Accessed 08.05.18)

Premise: Magazine Article


Bibliography:

Kurinsky, M. (2014) Inside Sony Pictures Animation - Production Designer Michael Kurinsky 
[Online] At: https://youtu.be/q-pQjATBXjE?t=3m17s (Accessed on 08.05.18)



Illustration List:

Michael Kurinsky [Photograph] At: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/michael-kurinsky-talks-visual-development-hotel-transylvania-2 (Accessed on 08.05.18)

Hotel Transylvania 2 [Poster] At: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/hoteltransylvania2/

Technical Difficulties: Crit Presentation




Reflective Statement: Coming Soon

7 May 2018

Technical Difficulties: Animatic


This is the completed Animatic for my piece "Technical Difficulties". I will more than likely add some background noise in for each scene in the final product (e.g. a park for The Drone), so that each segment is a bit more "fleshed out", for lack of a better term.

I welcome any and all constructive criticism and feedback.

16 April 2018

Technical Difficulties: Edited Audio Part 1

This is the first part of the edited audio for my animation. I have edited it as close as I can to the script.

15 April 2018

Technical Difficulties: Script



This is the "Script" I have written for my animation. I went through all of the audio clips, and picked out the pieces that I felt would work best. I tried to make the segments flow together as best I could, but there were some points where the end of one didn't really line up at all with the beginning of the next one.

Either way, I hope you enjoy reading it, and I appreciate any constructive criticism.

12 April 2018

Sculpting: Week 4


The Fourth week of Sculpting. My Model is starting to look more & more like Mr. Incredible. I am feeling very proud of this model, as Sculpting was an area I was lacking in confidence at the start of this unit, as I hadn't really done any before. Hopefully he'll be finished in time for the release of Incredibles 2!

Maya 201: Phonemes Lip Sync - Part 1

Maya 201: Phonemes - Jaw Bounce

This is the Jaw Bounce for the Phonemes project we are currently doing in Maya. The character matches up to the audio the same way that a Muppet does. The Lip-Syncing will be added later.

8 April 2018

Premise: Audio Part 5


Here is an interview I did with my mother, who has a strong dislike for flying. I felt that she was the best person to portray the "Drone" Character, as although she is speaking about her own views and experiences, it fits in with the theme of the items not wanting to do what the were designed for.