For the channel branding brief I started by researching each channel in the categories we were given. We have to rebrand one of the channels with new Idents, Break Bumpers, Bugs, Menu Boards and Lower thirds. I was sketching out ideas and had some for the discovery channel to begin with. I was thinking along the lines of explorers of long ago, and this drifted towards inventors and then scientists. It was at this stage that I had the idea of the homage to the story of 'Frankenstien'. I wanted to use this for the Science channel though I suppose in hindsight that this could also apply to the Horror Channel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A selection of imagery that I am using for reference having decided to rebrand the Science channel.

 

 

 

I wanted to change the font used in the existing logo into something with a chrome or at least a metallic look. I also want it to be more square and engineered. I thought these images of chrome type might be useful for reference. I think the idea came from the existing logo's black reflective blob, which reminded me of Amish Kapoors 'Cloud Gate'.

 

 

Having created a new square logo I also decided that I should use this new font for the Menu Board. Naturally I underestimated the amount of time that this would take.

 

Template for the Menu Board before colouring in Photoshop.

 

 

The next step for the Channel Branding brief would have been the animatic for the Ident, only I had decided to change the script. Instead of showing the mad scientist in his lab, I decided just to give an indication of what's happening inside the room. I thought I could do this by showing light flashing on the stonework of the window opening, along with a buzzing sound, to give the impression of some electrical or chemical reaction taking place. This gives the viewer something to work out themselves, what's going on inside? The script had to be altered to make the clip about the bird. Now it's about the crow as we follow his attempt to shelter from the storm, then witness his surprise at the activity in the room, and finally his lucky escape as he flies away just before the scientists experiment goes horribly wrong. So what began as a clip about a mad scientists experiment going wrong, which would result in an explosion that would propel the channel logo from the castle window to a close-up at centre screen.

I had planned to create the whole animation for the Ident using the traditional hand drawn style that we are learning now, but realistically there wouldn't be enough time. So I decided to combine traditional animation for the crow, and I began experimenting with creating a 3d set using Cinema 4d. This would save a lot of time as each background frame would have to be a separate drawing as the camera would be zooming in or out for several seconds. It's really great what can be achieved with this software. I even managed to add a hand drawn look to the castle walls and roofs. Unfortunately my plan to export the set into After Effects for editing just wouldn't happen. The footage I'd created in Cinema 4d had to be exported as a png sequence to be imported into After Effects. I did spend a whole morning trying to do this but I was unsuccessful. By this stage time was getting scarce so I fell back to plan B. For this I draw the backgrounds and coloured them in Photoshop. I then scaled them up or down as needed when editing to indicate camera movement. This was my planned Ident for the presentation, but realistically it was more like an animatic of my intended piece.

Storyboard 1

The first draft of the script involved action inside the castle i.e. the mad scientist and his assistant and the experiment they're working on. Naturally this would involve lots of drawing and my time was limited. I like the camera angles and atmospheric lighting of this scene though and will try and create it at a later time.

 

Storyboard 2

 

 

The revised storyboard is a combination of original backgrounds and some of the crow drawings that were made for the traditional part. This revised version tells the story from the crows perspective and only suggests the 'Frankenstein' story.

Storyboard 3

 

Colour was added to the storyboard in Photoshop as I wanted to create a sort of dark or gloomy atmosphere. Ideally I would have included heavy rain in the animation but as usual time was running out, so I had to make an 'executive decision' and omit it.

 

                           

 

Channel Branding Animatic

 

Menu Board 

 

The new font style I made for the Logo was also used for the Menu Board and the Lower-Third Promo

 

 

Lower-Third Promo

 

 

Channel Bug

 

The Logo was transformed into a 3d shape in Adobe After Effects and given a random rotating movement for the animated Bug

 

 

Break Bumper

 

A clip from the Ident animation was altered, to include the Logo,for the Break Bumper

 

 

Channel Ident

 

I had previously experimented in 3d Modelling and was able to create the set in Cinema 4d. I then added the traditional hand drawn crows flight in Adobe After Effects. I was also able to create the exploding light at the end in After Effects. The 3d modelling was invaluable for saving time as it would have taken a lot of drawing had I stuck to the traditional method for the whole Ident animation.

 

 

 

I've got a few more line tests done since the last post. When I got the drawbridge done I thought I could combine it with the horse running (into the castle), for my final project. This entails a line test that either combines two of the tests we have already created, or maybe adding a separate movement to one, e.g. the flying bird landing on a branch, or the walking person stopping. As long as there's two separate animations it's fairly open. I also got a walk cycle done and the 3/4 perspective walk cycle. Now I could use the perspective walk cycle for the final project, as I had the figure stopping at the end, but I was keen to see how the horse running into the castle would look.

 

The drawbridge sequence. There is a background image but I'm not sure how to show it without photo shopping the other images.

 

 

This is my first hand drawn walk test. The movement looks a bit wooden but I think the whole idea is to learn these techniques through trial and error. The next one I do will have a bit of bounce.

 

 

This one was a bit confusing. Although we only had to do in-betweens it seemed that there was something wrong with the keyframes we were given. I had to do a line test of the keyframes to work out the steps. When the tweens were done I added a few extra frames to bring the figure to a stop.

 

 

This was my intended line test of the combined drawbridge and horse running sequences. The only way I could think of to create this test was to photo shop all the drawbridge movement images (to reveal the background image). I then had to do the same to the horse images. Then I cropped a copy of the background - so the horse would seem to enter the castle. I also had to make a copy of the nearside rope to make it look like the horse is running behind it. Of course I couldn't resist adding sound effects.

I still have to finish the angry bird sequence, and we have a wave principle sequence to do too and I might be hand drawing my channel branding Ident, depending on the time scale, so that'll be a good bit of experience.

 

 

 

 

I got a few more line tests done for the traditional animation class. This time we had to do some tweens for a horse running sequence, and do a bird in flight from a side view.

Bird in flight.

 I was trying to do a vulture but I think I should have used a reference image as it's not very accurate. I was also trying to include some head movement, rising and falling with the wings but it just looks like his neck is moving up and down.

Horse running.

We only had to add a few tweens for this sequence but I might try an animal run cycle from scratch.

I still have to finish the angry bird sequence and I have to do the human walk cycle yet so there's still a lot to do.

This is a short clip that I made with Cormac as a class exercise for Alan. We didn't really have a name for it. The idea of the exercise was to create a stop motion piece. We decided to imitate the style of William Kentridge using just charcoal and one sheet of paper. We took turns in drawing and photographing. We didn't have a script and just kind of winged it. I think the whole point was to try something new and this style is one we had both wanted to try and it was all a bit experimental, which is probably something we should be doing more often.

I also got the storyboard done for the Channel Branding brief.

I know, It's very similar to a scene from any  'Frankenstein' film. But that was exactly my intention. Obviously I used the films for reference, but what I am trying to do is pay homage to such an iconic scientific experiment. I'm probably being a bit self indulgent too as the scene requires some dramatic atmosphere and lighting, along with some great camera angles so it will give me a chance to try out things I won't have done before. I also think that keeping the clip light-hearted might be a welcome change - for the Science Channel viewers - from all the serious science programmes.

I haven't decided on a technique yet, now that we've started learning traditional techniques, I might consider hand drawing this, as I still haven't got round to trying that yet. I'd better work out my schedule first and take it from there.

Finally were getting to do some traditional animation. These new tutorials with Barry are great. I know that there's a lot of drawing involved but the results are so natural. With the shortage of light boxes in the studio I decided to work on the drawing assignments at home using, the natural light from a window. I encountered my first problem when I realised that you need to layer three sheets of paper to create tween drawings, and the paper I have is too thick/dense. So I improvised and made up a light box using an old plastic storage crate, a bedside light and the bed section from an old flatbed scanner.

 

Set up for capturing drawings. The scanner bed works as a registration marker for the photos. I still can't figure out why some images are added sideways but it's fairly self explanatory. When I started shooting I noticed there is a spot of dust inside the camera lens (I'd forgotten about that) so you'll see that in the clips but it'll do for testing.

 

Home made light box. Even though it has a 60w bulb it's only just good enough to pass through three sheets of paper adequately so I think I'll switch it for a 100w. 

 

 

Drawbridge line test. I had to remove one drawing. as it was jumping at the start. but it's not too bad. We also got a background drawing of a castle, but obviously the drawbridge images will have to be brought into Photoshop and edited before it can be used.

 

 

The Head turn line test. I tried drawing in red pencil crayon first but the lines were very thick. I now know that I should have had a sharp point on the crayon. The reason for drawing in red first is in case of mistakes. A final trace in black will show up clearly in the photographs if the under-drawing is ok. I think I'll probably revise these as they're a bit messy but for a first attempt I think it worked out reasonably well.

We have several more sets of drawings to do but I'm looking forward to it as this really is a necessary skill, and it's enjoyable to do.

 

 

A selection of my life drawings to date for this semester.