Compositing Test

I decided to animate one of my more minimal shots and have a go at compositing the Flash animation with my texture boil over the top and a prototype background behind.

I used a loop of four different charcoal textures over the top and tracked them to parts of the character that I wanted to shadow.

I am happy with the way it is beginning to look, however I think that the contrast between the character and the background needs to be upped as he is looking a bit washed out at the moment. This would be something I could correct in post, either making the shadows on his edges stronger or adjusting his overall colour.

Animatic

I have been continuously editing, cutting re-doing bits of this animatic. There are still a few things that will change during production but I think it is finally at a point where I can move on and start animating; which I have now begun to do.

The sound is rough but it gives a general idea of foley and atmosphere.

Texturing and background tests.

This is a quick background that I painted straight over the layout sketch I made for the animatic. It took around 15 minutes to complete, I aim to do all the backgrounds with this speed to keep them looking rough and minimalistic. It still needs some work with colour and outline but the final look will be not far from this.

This is a charcoal texture I created and it is one of many since I am using them to create a loop that goes over the character animation like a boil. I will have to try hard to make each texture frame quite similar so that the boil is smooth.

Flash Workflow TESTINGGG

Here is an image that shows the workflow I will be using; the rough lines in flash - clean-up lines - colour fill.

I have then taken this further and animated a small test of my character turning.

I am happy with the turning action. My tutors and myself doubted if the design would move very well when turning but I have managed to disguise it effectively in this quick sweep.

The next stage in After Effects would be to overlay my boiling brush strokes textures over the top of the moving characters. I will post more about that process when I start animating and compositing.

Some visual development

Here is my initial mood board that I created before I started working on the look of my film. It is heavy with imagery from The Pearce Sisters film by Luis Cook. The film for me captured the essence of the sort of look I am going for; British seaside with dark gruesome contrasting imagery mixed in. I want a very textured, watery aesthetic, I started to grab images of British seaside towns and beaches. There is also work from artist Charles Heuttner in there as I was inspired by his visual development for his untitled beach film.

I then began to start creating quick concept paintings.

I soon felt however that I needed to study the scenery more so I had a better understanding of the setting. I decided to go on a trip to the seaside town of Clevedon near Bristol to take some photos.

My visit benefitted me a lot and I have a load of pictures I can now reference when designing backgrounds. Realism isn't something I am aiming for at all in the look of the film, but it still helps to visit the place to get a feel and atmosphere from it.

These are some more development images from the film that I have been working on prior to production. It still needs a lot more work.

Pitch - Character design/development.

Some pages from my pitch I had to put together.

Characters:

Here is the development of the two main characters and other side characters from my film. 

My initial designs are the colour ones from the first image, however following on from feedback from my tutors about the design I went on to changing the feet and elements of them that weren't solid enough. My turnarounds helped me come to designs that worked in terms of movement, although I will most likely still run into problems while animating.

Anorak: A film about a pig.

I have began work on my short graduation film which is currently titled ANORAK. It is about a pig who lives with his wife (who is a cow) in a small british seaside town that is populated with farm animals. Two mysterious looking strangers are picking off the inhabitants of the town and chopping them up for meat, it is when our pig's wife gets taken that he decides to go after and rescue her.

 

Here are a couple of early poster designs for the film.

This blog will chart the various stages of production.