[COP] Blog

Session 1 - Brief of Module [8/11/18]
In this session, we had a brief of the module. What this module is about and what the task to be completed for submission will be. This module will require us to write an essay about a topic that will link to animation. Though this process, we will learn about how animation has developed and became an influence to various topics and cultures.

Session 2 - Lecture: Technologies Old & New [22/11/18]
In this session, we had a lecture about the topic of 'Technologies Old & New’. In this lecture we learned about how technology is implemented in animation. Examples are VR, virtual reality, AR, augmented reality and MR, mixed reality. Through technological advancements, it has helped animation in the aspect of AM, addictive manufacture [3D printing] to create parts such as interchangeable puppet faces for a character in animation. In this lecture this has taught me about how technology and animation are connected, however I will want to look into other topics, mainly. Nostalgia to base my essay topic on.

Session 3 - Lecture: Aesthetics & Agendas [29/12/18]
In this lecture we were introduced to the topic of nostalgia. Moreover, how animators utilise and implement nostalgia in their content. The sense of nostalgia is often emitted through sentimental attachments with something, that can be an item, place or in this case, cartoons. Examples may be Pokemon, 80s fashion, books or comics. In this sense, cartoons are constantly being rebooted such as Ben 10, and the various rebrand it has with the characters or Pokemon and how it’s being implemented in games such as PokemonGo. As I wanted to explore upon nostalgia for my essay,  this has sparked several case studies that I can research upon, but I’m still unsure of a specific topic that I want to explore upon as of now.

Session 4 - Lecture: Storytelling & Representation [6/12/18]
Through this lecture, we explored upon the topic of storytelling and representation in animation. In context, storytelling allows the audience to be immerse into the story the animation is trying to convey. Moreover, how is storytelling shaping the norms of characters and personalities in animation. Throughout this lecture, main points that were discussed were misrepresentation and inequality. How male characters have to play the ‘hero’ whilst female characters had to play the ‘helpless’ and ‘distress’ in stories. Furthermore this dives into racism and how characters from different races are represented. Although I wanted to base my essay on nostalgia, I believe this topic allows a more guided research as the topic is straightforward and easy for me to research upon.

After this lecture, I stared to work on my visual journal. As I wanted to research upon the topic of nostalgia, I wrote out what nostalgia is, and identifying it.

Session 5 - Lecture: Propaganda & Politics [13/12/18]
This lecture was introduced us on the final topic, propaganda and politics in animation. Through this lecture the main points discussed were how cartoons break the boundaries and how offensive content such as propaganda messages or vulgar language can be implemented in cartoons. This topic more so indulges upon racial slurs and political criticism, how it’s explored in the world of animation. This topic will be an interesting topic for my essay as I am interested as to how these propaganda and political elements could be implemented in cartoons.

Continuing with the visual journal, I researched upon several characters that I encountered during my childhood. I also immersed with the Hong Kong culture and did some character drawings popular in Hong Kong, making a collage of my childhood cartoon characters.

Session 6 - Academic Writing Workshop [20/12/18]

In this lecture, we started to talk about various aspects about the essay. Ranging from the formatting of the essay, going through how to write each paragraph and conduct research for our essay and the Harvard style we have to use for the bibliography.

After contemplating and struggling upon thinking of a essay topic, I eventually decided to change my topic from nostalgia to propaganda and political correctness. I noted this down in my visual journal to depict the change of topic in a visual manner.


Session 7 - Q&A about interim essay [10/1/19]

After the break, some of us have submitted questions regarding the essay, in this lecture we went through the questions to further clarify what was expected for the essay.

At this point, I have immersed in possible research cases I can conduct for my essay. Through researching about propaganda in cartoons, I eventually came up with 7 possible case studies I can research on for the essay.

Session 8 - Lecture: The Creative Process [17/1/19]

In this lecture, we talked about the inquiries we had regarding the visual journal. Moreover we had to show what we had for feedback. Upon looking at other visual journals, I know I am extremely behind and that I should develop it at the same pace as my essay. With that in mind, I illustrate the 7 possible case studies I can work upon, noting some questions along the way so I can research about it for the essay.

Session 9 - Day of Interim Submission [24/1/19]

In this session, we had to hand in our essay for feedback. I will utilise this time I have to catch up on the visual journal for the things I’ve planned out as I am still behind.

Session 10 - Day of formative feedback [7/2/19]

After getting feedback from the module leader, I know that I have a lot of mistakes that should be corrected before the official hand in. Moreover, I will have to further develop on the visual journal and to start making work based off of the research cases.

Session 11 - Study task 5 [14/2/19]

We were introduced to our final study task. In this study task we have to research upon various ways of thinking. Groups were split and were assigned different topics, my group got ‘The Six Thinking Hats.’ I assigned myself two hats, red and black and researched upon the hats. The red hat focused on the emotional aspect of thinking, such as hunches or intuition. Where as the black hat focused on the harsh truths, the risks, dangers and problems the plan has.

Getting some time to work on the visual journal, I did some research specifically on both aspects of the essay; propaganda and political correctness. This has inspired me to make two pieces of work, each relating to one sub topic.

Session 12 - Study task 5 [21/2/19]

In this session, we had to present to the other groups on our topic we got for ways of thinking. Through this session, I have learnt about other ways of thinking such as the use of mind mapping, lateral thinking, brainstorming and random words.

At this point, my visual journal is filled with propaganda and political aspects in the world of animation. Moreover, the pieces inspired on the research is completed and I’ve also been able to ask a few friends and family to get their opinion and outlook on the topic and pieces of work that were inspired by my case studies as primary research.

Session 13 - Final submission briefing [28/2/19]

In this session, we just had a final rundown of what we’re supposed to hand in, and how we’re going to do so.

For the visual journal, there isn’t much left to work on besides getting everything presentable and coloured.

Session 14 - Last session checks before submission [14/3/19]

At this stage, the visual journal is filled with a bit of nostalgia themes at the beginning, with the rest being propaganda and political research in the context of animation. Reflecting upon the progress as a whole from how I changed my initial topic from nostalgia to propaganda and political correctness as my research topic. In the journal, I ultimately aim to illustrate my development from my choice of topic to eventually being inspired by my research, creating various propaganda/political inspired works and ultimately linking how the essay research had inspired me to create those two works.  

Study Task 5 [COP] - Ways of Thinking

In this task, we were assigned a group. For each group, there will be a different topic we will research upon; all topics are based off of 'ways of thinking,' which involves topics such as brain storming, mind mapping, random words, lateral thinking and the six thinking hats. For my group we had to research on the six thinking hats. 








 







 



Link to PDF; 6 Thinking Hats Presentation

Throughout this process, not only have I learned about various ways of thinking and the utilisation of it. This will definitely help me try to plan and think of different ways I can analyse each task so I can fulfil the task in an efficient manner.

Study Task 5 - Modelling Skills Page

In this task, we had to use Maya, a 3D professional modelling software to create a toy truck as well as a model of our own choice.

For the toy truck, we used simple shapes and manipulated their scaling, X, Y and Z to create the shapes of cylinders for dowels and wheels. For the body and head of the truck, a tool had to be used to cut one of the edges from the cube to create a slope plane on the cube to act as a window area for the truck. As for the body, a embezzle tool was used to smooth the edge out to make one end rounded.

Maya truck model [lines of shapes used]


Maya truck model [solid version]


As the truck was made with step by step guidance, I think it was a simple task as I got used to some of the tools in Maya that will help with shape manipulation to create the ideal shapes I want for a model.

For my own model, I wanted to make something simple so I decided to make a mug.



The first step was to start off with a cylinder polygon and essentially cut off one of the faces the cylinder to hollow it out as a mug would be.



After hollowing out the cylinder, I added a few divisions to the cylinder to make so that I can make the bevel of the base. Without divisions, you will lift the whole base of the cylinder instead of making a bevel. I highlighted the inner divisions of the base and used the move tool to move the selected area up into the hollow area to create the slight bevel.



I then proceeded to thicken the cylinder so it won't be paper thin. To do that I used the extrude function to apply a thickness to the model, therefore making a mug.



To make the handle, I used another polygon given in maya, a Torus. This will create a ring like model, since I only need half I deleted half of the ring to form the handle.



I then manipulated the scaling of the handle to make it fit onto the mug. To make the handle more interesting, I selected the edge faces of the handle, enlarging it to give the illusion like it's stuck to the mug component.

Mug model [Top view]


Mug model [Side view]

Mug model [Front view]


After creating the model, I decided to apply some textures onto the model to make it look better, as the default texture is a dull grey shade. To apply textures, I had to 'Apply Material' to the mug and handle itself so that they will have the same material properties.

Mug model [Textured]



Overall this Maya task was interesting. As I am interested in Maya in character modelling for 3D animation, I would want to explore this software a lot more as it is extremely difficult due to the mass capability and function this software offers. 

Study Task 8: Walk Cycle

In this task, our goal was to create two types of walk cycles. A walk cycle with the puppet we made during the model making workshop, and a walk cycle with any digital software.

Moreover to making the walk cycle, we also learnt about the walk cycle itself; key frames and key steps that a walk has.

Walk cycle reference [via http://www.angryanimator.com/word/2010/11/26/tutorial-2-walk-cycle/]


In a walk, the key component is to have a these 4 main points. Contact between the feet and the floor. Recoil from the contact, lifting the back leg and pushing forward, this should be the lowest point of the walk cycle. Passing between the hind leg moving it forward. High-point, where the person should be at the highest point of their walk, almost up-straight with their hind leg pushing them upward.

In progress [Walk Cycle]


Even with the reference and the key idea of what the walk should consist of, I still found it incredibly difficult whilst animating the walk with the puppet. Not only did I find the balancing of the puppet difficult, I found the orientation of the arms and legs difficult which took 3 tries to get just a grasp of what a walk should be with the puppet.

Stop motion walk cycle [3D]


After showing the walk cycle to my peers, this is their feedback;
- The feet could leave the ground in a circular motion, making it more believable as it looks more like a slide
- Good arm movement, illustrates the weight of the right arm and the left arm has a good pump

Although the arm shows heft, I did not really realise there was an arm pump that made the character more confident which fits to his personality. However I do agree with the legs being more like a slide rather than a walk. As I did have a lot of trouble handling the puppet due to the imbalanced weight of the arm and leg, made it impossible for the leg to lift up even with the help of support stands.

After completing the puppet walk cycle, we were taught how to use TV paint, a 2D animation software. This software is solely created for the purpose of animation, therefore it should be a lot easier to use compared to Photoshop in terms of creating an animation.

TV Paint [progress of 2D walk cycle]


Although this software has it's perks as it's solely for animation, I still feel more comfortable with Photoshop in terms of animating as I am more familiar with the shortcut keys and functions that Photoshop has that TV paint (might) lacks. In the future I would want to explore more with TV Paint as the only real issue I have with TV paint is the navigation of the frames, and brush types and size that I can use to draw with.

TV Paint walk cycle [2D]
Although this software is purely for animation, I still have yet to get used to it. The walk cycle created is repeating the same 4 frames, key frames, of a walk cycle and repeated in different spots to make it animate. The lack of familiarity with the software hindered me to create a more refined version of the walk cycle, therefore I will try to create one using Photoshop in the future.

Semi-rendered walk cycle [2D]


This task was overall quite difficult as I am still getting used to the key frames of a walk cycle. Moreover the lack of skill I have with human anatomy, drawing the character was in general difficult, and animating it was even more so. I will improve upon this through creating rough line animations of the character in action scenes with the antagonist so I can get more familiar with drawing the characters, making it easier for me to animate the action scene in the future.

Study Task 6 - Analogue Character Modelling and Realisation Page

In this task, we had to create a puppet based on our character. This model making workshop lasts for three sessions.

In the first model making session, we were required to bring an A4 size of our character. This way we can mark and have an idea of how the skeleton of the model should be like in terms of scaling. Using market, we drew the skeleton of the puppet as well as padding. The skeleton will be made from wire whilst the padding will be made from modelling styrofoam.

Marking of the skeleton and padding


After marking the skeleton of the puppet, we had to make an area for the screw so that our puppet can be screwed onto the stand we made for the Wood workshop and Metal workshop. We had a compound of clay and another substance we mixed together to form the placeholder for the screw component of the stand.

Skeleton of the puppet + screw component


For the second session, after making the skeleton, we worked on the padding of the character using modelling styrofoam. After embedding the padding onto the skeleton by cutting the padding in half and using a hot blue gun to affix the pieces, we had to wrap the padding using bandages. With the help of an adhesive bandage, we taped and secured the loose bandages onto the skeleton making a more solid body.

Wrapped skeleton of the puppet


For the final session, we used various colours of clay to complete our puppet.



 As the skeleton had some proportion issues some parts were too thick the puppet was very disproportionate in the arms and foot. Moreover the thickness further made the puppet joints too rough, making it hard to move especially in the leg areas. The left arm of the puppet was easy to move but the cyborg component had a tendency to crack. This will definitely be a problem when animating the walk cycle or action scene in the future.

Study Task 4 - Scripting and Storyboarding

In this task, we had to produce a story and a world for the characters to exist in. Since I wanted to do a more battle like story, I went for fantasy based world. In the animation, I plan to have a more music based animation and less narrative/dialogue base. In return for having no dialogue, there can be sound effects if necessary to convey expressions.

The main animation will be set in the outskirts of an island with a castle. The castle called the Spawn Coffin which is the main area/base of where the beasts reside. As I wanted to try to have a more action based animation for the project, I decided majority of the animation will be an action scene with music which uplifts and creates an atmosphere suited for the story.

storyboard [page 1]


The first part of the story board will be an introduction of the initial form, Beta with him absorbing some sort of character (undecided) to have him change into Delta. This all happens before Zeta's eyes whilst he confronts the beasts initially.

storyboard [page 2]


After introducing the characters, I will have them really go at it in a fight with an undecided conclusion; having Zeta sit in the outskirts of the island with wind blowing and him looking out into the horizon. I wanted to make the story have an inconclusive ending so that the audience can perceive it in their own way with who being victorious.

UPDATE: 3/11/19

After discussing the storyboard with the course leader, its decided that changes will have to be made. The first part of the story is not clear and that will not be a good or clear enough introduction to the characters. Might be redundant to include Beta as the fight scene will be mainly of Delta and Zeta. Therefore to solve this problem, I will have to introduce another character to the story as a reasoning for Zeta to fight Delta. With that in mind I decided that Epsilon, the initial design of Zeta will be an actual character in the story.

The new story will start off with Zeta looking at an metallic arm [Epsilon's metallic cyborg arm]. The flashback will sequence from there, introducing both Beta and Epsilon. Giving insight to how Beta trashed and destroyed the village where Epsilon was residing. Victims not only included the innocent, but also Epsilon. After ravaging the village, Beta absorbs the bodies of the innocence and Epsilon to transforms into Delta.

After the flashback sequence ends, Delta overshadows where Zeta was grieving upon in the village. With a smirk on Zeta's face, this confirms that Zeta was waiting for this moment to happen; his revenge. They will fight in the village where Beta trashed. The same sequence will happen as depicted in the story board, just a different location.

Action scene sequence:
- Zeta leaps/rolls? between Delta, leading him on away from the trashed village
- However, Delta gains on Zeta and rushes him down
- Delta tries to hit Zeta whilst running but Zeta is able to dodge easily
- They run into a dead end and Zeta has no where else to run, backed into a wall, Delta tries to punch Zeta
- In Zeta's defence, he holds off against Delta's massive punch however fails and gets crushed
- Whilst Delta is grinning being victorious, Zeta gains overwhelming power, turning his pupils yellow
- Delta in shock and gets punched by Zeta, throwing him far back into the area
- Delta screams in anger and charges towards Zeta
- Zeta charges up and jumps towards Delta

After the charging between the two characters, the fight ends in a bang transitioning into the credit scene where Zeta places Delta's horns/skull? next to a grave that spells out Epsilon, proving he had succeeded in avenging him.

UPDATED storyboard;

storyboard [Re] (page 1)


Storyboard [Re] (page 2)


Storyboard [Re] (page 3)


Storyboard [Re] (page 4)


Storyboard [Re] (page 5)

Study Task 7: Pitch Bible

In this task, we had to produce a Pitch Bible. A Pitch Bible is essentially a project pitch. We had to format and gather our best work revolving around our character designs, background designs or even animations to present to the class to persuade them into why this is a good project, and obtain their feedback and suggestions.

In my Pitch Bible, I essentially want to give the audience an insight into the world of Zeta.


Pitch Bible 1 PDF

After gaining feedback from my peers, it's suggested that I should include a bit more in terms of poses of the antagonists. Also re do the background of the characters as it's a bit off in perspective. 

Study Task 3 - Character Design and Development Page

In this task, we had to design our character based on the genre we researched upon. Since I researched on Horror, I wanted to set my character in a fantasy world where the protagonist has to face monsters. As this character mainly focusses on the protagonist, I wanted him to have a cyborg arm as a main aid to his battle and his power source.



Wanting to improve on my skills in the aspect of drawing and animating people, I based my protagonist on a human male. With that in mind, I tried to remove all minor features that I could look over for now; such as hair or facial features to solely focus on the anatomy and movement of the human body.



After getting feedback from my peers, it was clear that the character had to be less generic and more personalised. As my initial design really focussed on the cyborg arm and that single curved hair, I exaggerated those features and made the design more simple.



This is the final coloured version of the protagonist. I decided to make the arm stand out even more using red and mustard yellow for highlights. In contrary to the bright red, I made the tank top a deep denim blue with off white baggy pants. As I wanted to set the character in a less developed country/area, the clothing is more rustic. I also emphasised his hair to make it more exaggerated.

Dynamic Poses of Protagonist


For the antagonists, I based them off of beasts. The first design of the beast was designed after a Great Dane [a type of dog breed] but instead of having a brown coloured fur, it's more grey to suggest that the it is a creature and not an animal. The 'second' beast is an alternate form of the first one. This beast has abnormal proportions; the top half being a gorilla and only having one hoof leg and a giant tail. The eyes for the beast were abnormal as they have two pupils on each eye further suggesting that they are beasts.

Beta Character Sheet 


Delta Character Sheet


UPDATE: 3/11/19

After rethinking about the sequence of the story, I decided that the initial design of the character would be a side character in the story. The initial design will be a separate character called Epsilon and the main protagonist will be Zeta. Their relationship will be of brothers.