"HEART" by Erick Oh

This short CGI animation by Erick Oh is one which I have watched many times. I found it a really useful animation to learn from, because it has used a range of principles of animation. For example, when the heart falls to the ground at the start, the use of squash and stretch allows it to look bouncy and delicate which makes it more believable. I was really inspired by this animation because of the use of character design and background design. The whole mood of the story in this is quite dark and edgy because of the dark colour scheme and the use of rather strange looking characters. The whole setting of this animation is quite ironic, giving the fact that it could be assumed that it is about love due to its name. 

Jason and the Argonauts 1963

This clip from Don Chaffey's 1963 fantasy greek mythology feature film, "Jason and The Argonauts" shows the scene where an army of skeletons is brought up from the ground to fight. These skeletons were created and manipulated using stop motion animation and then later on incorporated into the live action. Since first seeing this film when I was younger I have always found this scene quite unsettling. One of the main aspects of it which I find so unnerving is when the skeletons begin walking together in formation. The fact that they all move in exactly the same way at the same time, makes it much more intimidating. Eventhough it is easy to tell when watching this now, that this is clearly a use of animation from way back in the day, I still find it really impressive the way the actors would have acted out the fight with only objects to specify where each skeleton would potentially be. Also I think the use of timing and coordination has really paid off, I can see why when this film was released it was such a big success!

Concept Work

I have decided that I would like to hand draw my animation, because I think this is one of my strengths. I am aware however, that I will have to have some footage to use as evidence. I will either record my friend who I used to do ballet with, get somebody to record me, or refer to some of the many videos I have found during my research. (My friend and I aren't quite as advanced as I want this dancer to look, so I may have to refer to online examples)

I have produced a number of different drawings which have a been a way for me to decide what positions I want the dancer to move through, and how I will go about making this look believable.

Producing these drawings was really helpful because it encouraged me to pay extra attention to the muscular build a ballet dancer has and how this enables them to move it certain ways.

Final Design

I decided to alter the appearance of this character in comparison with its original design. I have simplified it because for me this animation is my way of practising with animating movement, so I changed the character's outfit, because originally the red tutu would have diverted attention away from this. However I will still consider the original character for future reference. 

Storyboard 

I knew this animation was going to basically consist of a range of dance movements right up to the point where her legs break off at the end. I put this storyboard together so I was able to see what move would come after another and to get an idea of the timings. In order to get a better idea I will need to produce an animatic in order to make sure it is between 15-30 seconds. 

Research

Even though the dancer in my animation is supposed show show an exaggerated version of the way ballet dancers tend to look, I still need to do research on the way in which they move. Ballet allows somebody to move their bodies to its full potential, and in ways which cannot be achieved with out life time training. So I want to make sure that when my character is dancing, the movements look believable

Mood board 1 - Positions

I knew it was important to re-familiarise myself with some of the different movements ballet dancers out their bodies trough, especially since I haven't done ballet myself  or watched a ballet for about 2 years. 

Jessy Lipke - 10 year old Ballet Dancer 

 Darcey Bussel

I have incorporated these two videos into my research because two videos into my research because they are very interesting to watch. These two dancers are of completely different ages and therefore at different points in their dancing careers, which is why I find it so intriguing to see how they vary. Whilst watching these, i was paying particular attention to details such as the positioning of the heads, arms and posture , not just the feet and legs. It is clear that the body language of a ballet dancer is very prominent and well postured, which makes them look more confident and professional. These are aspects which I will need to incorporate into my animation. 

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Blood and guts are the best.

Even though I already have my character design, I carried out some research on the darker side of ballet to see if my design could do with any alterations. I have decided that I might change the design of the tutu slightly. I have created this mood board because I wanted to familiarise myself with other people's attempts at turning ballet into something darker - and those who know me will know that i will take up any excuse to research anything gruesome. 

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes is a 1948 British film about a ballet dancer, which was written, directed and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film itself is about a Ballet based on the fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen. The film is about a young ballerina who is given the leading role in this production. The fairy tale itself is about a young girl who buys a pair of red ballet shoes from a shoe maker, not knowing that the shoes are under their control. She ends up dancing until dying of exhaustion because she is unable to stop. During the film, the woman who is given this role, does become manipulated by the shoes and ends up jumping in front of an approaching train.

I watched this film when I was very young, but I still remember it very well. It has been quite influential for me when it comes to this brief because it has quite a contradictory theme. Ballet is normally seen as graceful, elegant form of dance which requires huge amounts of discipline, but in this instance it has been turned into something more unpleasant.  

The reason for my obsession..

Since I was tiny I have been a dancer and only stopped doing ballet when I was 17, so I have been surrounded with it for most of my life. I have a really strong interest in the human body and the way different people can make their bodies move, so for me this isn't just an opportunity to show my character design, but also a chance for me to practice animating movement, because I don't feel like I have don't a great deal of this so far and I would like to improve.

There are a number of dance based animations which I find really satisfying to watch because the movement is animated to beautifully. For example, "Thought of you" by Ryan Woodward and "Duet" by Glen Keane.

Although I want this to be an animation based on movement, I still want the character's physique to be exaggerated and not to replicate the realistic human form. I want it to be gruesome and edgy, therefore contradicting the typical style of ballet. 

Inspiration to make it disturbing..

This stop motion animation "T is For Toilet" created by Lee Hardcastle, is full of blood and guts, and even though it is animated through claymation which would be seen as quite a difficult way of animating this, it looks really effective. This animation was a reminder for me, that making something gory and humorous at the same time can really work, and I love dark humour. 

This particular shot from 2010's "Black Swan" which was directed by Darren Aronfsky, depicts a scene where the main dancer begins to hallucinate, and she thinks her legs are snapping in two. I found this scene disturbing because it is pretty graphic, however lets face it, I love the graphic stuff. This has influenced my idea for my animation, because I like the idea of having my character's legs or feet becoming corrupted in some gruesome way so the dancing is stopped by the ending. This shot above has kick started quite a lot of different scenarios in my mind as to what could happen to the dancer's legs.  

Idea for animation

We have been given the task of creating a 15-30 second animation which represents a particular theme or method of animation that we have a particular interest in. I have a massive love for character design, so I would really like to go back through my sketch book and create an animation based on a particular character I produced a while ago.

This is drawing I produced a couple of years ago and I have always wanted to develop it further. I recently used one of my friends as a model and turned her into a real life version of this character. This was really fun because I used paint to create the optical illusion of her mouth gaping as far down as her shoulders. I have designed a lo of characters, but this is the one I am the most desperate to animate at this point in time!

Till Death Do Us Part

I love this print by JP Valderrama because it has taken something that should be seen as pleasant and given a literal twist to it, relating to the title "till death do us part". In some ways its quite a grim piece of work, but it is definitely one that can spark a mixture of reaction. I want to produce work that makes people feel a mixture of emotions, and it doesn't worry me if somebody isn't keen on something I produce because they find it too gruesome, so I when it comes to art work like this I feel like I understand it. 

Beth Cavener Stitcher

I came across Beth Cavener Stitcher's work when I was carrying out research on clay sculpture for my Foundation Diploma. Her sculptures focus on human phycology stripped of context and represented through animal forms.

Her work process often consists of sculpting clay over metal armatures with over 2000 pounds clay at once. Once this is done, the sculptures aren then cut into 30-160 pieces and the clay is taken out of the middle, taking it down to 1/4 of the thickness. If the sculpture is too large to be fired at once as a whole, it wouldn't be attached back together until after firing, with glue and epoxies. 

I find this work really satisfying to look at because of the smoothness of the clay and the way in which Stitcher has emphasised some of the bodily features of the animals. She has captured the facial features and projected certain emotions across brilliantly through doing this. Cavener has taken some quite sensitive subject matters and adapted them so they can be addressed up front. I find this relatable because a lot of my drawings and sculptures that I have created in the past , have been inspired be a range of quite emotional and psychological topics. 

H.R Giger

HR Giger (1940 - 2014 ) was sculptor, set designer and surrealist painter. He was particularly well known for his art and concept designs for the 1979 science fiction horror film, Alien. His art work came to the attention of the Director Ridley Scott, through Giger's "Necronomicon" which was the published collection of hid work.

 These are some for of the examples of Giger's work which inspired his creation for Alien. I find this work terrifying but I love it for that same reason. Also at the time of the film's production, his style of work was something new for people to see. Even though these designs are designed to be intimidating and to make people feel uneasy, I cant help but find them really beautiful, because of the unique and intricate way they have been designed.



His work was then transformed into the life like suit which was used  for the film. Its extremely impressive that such a complex design was able to become some thing which was three dimensional. I first saw Alien when I was very young, and although it frightened me then, it still does now. Giger's design was very unique. He was an artist who found inspirations in his nightmares, which isn't much of a surprise. The fact that he has taken the word "alien" and from it created something which is more mind-blowing than a great deal of the other monsters, even the more modern day designs, is really impressive. I think Giger's work is fascinating, because he has used the darker sides of his imagination to depict these frightening but beautiful designs.

Mary and Max

Mary and Max (2009)

Written and Directed by Adam Elliot

Produced by Melanie Coombs

Narrated by Barry Humphries 

This black and white, Stop Motion animated film is based on a true story, based on friendship, suicide, autism, love and chocolate hotdogs. No really, it is. I only came across this film recently and to be honest I loved it. I won't lie, its rather depressing. It has a completely unique and clever way of approaching some of the most sensitive subject matters in film, and life in general. The character designs are brilliant because their appearances reflect their personalities really well. My favourite example of character design in this film, is Max. His exaggerated and tired looking features make his character, somebody who has lived with autism and depression, believable. (There are of course, countless ways this character could have been portrayed, but I think this one fits really well with the style of animation used) This clip I have shown is to me, one of the most important scenes. Max is writing to his pen pal Mary, he is explaining his condition to her. This is so interesting because it is approached from the point of view that we don't usually get to hear this stuff from. I love the fact that some objects are in colour, because they represent certain emotions. The red tassel on his hat, seems to me like his attempt at being happy and adding some colour to his very monotone life. The animation in this film is brilliant because of the attention to detail, but to be honest the main thing that  has grabbed me is the overall mix of such a sad, sensitive story, humour and quirkiness and the fact that it has been shown in Stop Motion. I love how unique it is, and even though at a first glance it could be mistaken for a kids film, it really is not. There is a lot to it, but I think its a really moving and heart warming film. 

Animator VS Animation

"The Animator VS Animation"

By Alan Becker

Music by Sarah Eide

First of all, this mix of live action and animation works really well! Probably one of the sweetest things I've ever watched. The simplicity of the characters inside the computer make the sole thing better than if they were all individual full developed characters, because I love the idea that a character in its early stages still has the capability to wreck it's creator's life! Even the detail on the actual computer screen makes the whole thing so realistic. I like the fact that this is an animation about animation, and its a reminder that every creation has to start somewhere and every character can have ULTIMATE POWER. I think it represents the fact that some artists let their work dominate their life and this animation takes a literal view on this. I love the fact that this little stick figure has such a bold personality. It reminds me that not all animations have to be overly complicated in order to be awesome. 

Children

"Children"

By Takuya Okada

I found this one when I was just researching for random animations and I thought it was terrifying yet  amazing. This 3D CG animation by Takuya Okada is probably one of the most intriguing things I have ever watched. There is no dialog but I have an idea of what this story could be about. I think it is representing the fact that children are encouraged to keep silent and keep in formation. Even the teacher is the same, so I think it relates to the way we are all encouraged to be clones of one another. There is no differentiation between the children, making them look like robots in society. The colour scheme and music all add to the dreariness of the story, but I think it works really well! I love the fact that in the end, the children break out of their stereotypes which is represented through the breaking of their zipped up mouths. The ending could be seen as pretty sick, or disturbing but I think it is a great representation of showing children reaching out and making changes for themselves and not always following rules, which was shown clearly when after seeing a dog get hit by a train everyday, the child decides to run out of his usual route and save the animal. Its sort of brutal, but I think its a very powerful, unique and well crafted piece of work. 

Vincent

I get a lot of inspiration from some of my favourite books, artists and animations. Some of them are completely different to one another when it comes to audience, genre and technique, but there is something about them all individually that I love.

"Vincent"

Designed / Created / Directed by Tim Burton.

Produced by Rick Heinrichs

Narrated by Vincent Price

Music by Ken Hilton

This 1982 Stop Motion animation is one that I am obsessed with. Firstly the way this animation came about is pretty awesome. Tim Burton was working for Disney at the time and this idea he had was definitely not "Disney material". However he was provided with $60,000 to produce his adaptation since it still didn't fail to impress! I like it's twisted take on the mind of a child because it represents how children like to play and pretend but this story takes this to a whole new level. Vincent's obsession with tales from Edgar Allan Poe make him so detached from reality that he really believes he is Vincent Price. I love use of stop motion and lack of colour, I don't think it would have the same creepiness about it otherwise. The exaggerated facial and bodily features look amazing, I love the fact that Vincent hasn't been made to look like a typical 7 year old child. There is no dialog between characters, but I think the narration is spot on. I have such a huge interest in creating Stop Motion animation and I love the creepy stuff like this. I could go on for pages about this one, so I all have to draw this to a close others I will never EVER stop.