Month: December 2022

I learned a lot in creating this film. Firstly working with Wren was such a wonderful and useful experience. It was so interesting working with someone who had their own wealth of experience and creative vision. This was my first time ever creating something close to a narrative; having to consider story beats, shots, editing, sound design, set, was already a mammoth task and having someone to collaborate with was incredible helpful and enjoyable.

This film was a great exercise in planning and executing an idea. Wren and I began by talking through and creating a rough storyboard that plotted out the main beats of what we wanted to achieve and then filmed ourselves recreating it so that we would have a live reference.

We then found and created some simple set pieces that we could use to help build our story. We chose to keep the set minimalistic and used using simple materials like cardboard and foam that suited the aesthetic of our puppets. We also used a lighting effect on a phone that mimicked a television set to create more dynamic lighting throughout the scene. We weren’t sure if this would be picked up on camera but it came out well in test shots and even better in the final piece, if we had had more equipment available, we would have preferred to create overall a more atmospheric and directional lighting design, but for this instance we were content with what we were able to achieve, which was a suggestion of the final product.

Working through the storyboard, we quickly found shots that were either too complicated or could be simplified to a far more effective version when done in practice. We quite quickly found easier or at least for practical methods of doing things, close ups of characters, the hammer throw and how the characters interacted physically with each other changed quite dramatically from the story board phase, such as not creating a separate show for the hammer spinning and either waiting to edit specific timings or even cutting close ups altogether. It was a very useful lesson in exactly what is feasible within a time frame and how to make the best use of limited time. Had we had more time available to us, I think it would have been really beneficial to do a second shoot, having learnt so much from the first.

Once we had finished shooting we discussed and planned our editing process. Firstly Wren spent time editing specific stills in which we had rigged the hammer whilst I made a timecode plan for specific timing edits. Based on our original storyboard and decisions we made during filming.

Whilst Wren edited the video file, I spent time collecting and editing appropriate sound FX to enhance the film further, including the creation of a tv track made from different samples and editing sounds.

We specifically chose not to make the sounds completely naturalistic in order to reflect and compliment the slightly surreal and unnatural aesthetic of the film. Using sounds like squeaky toys to mimic laughter and crying and vocal effects pitched very low to create an unnatural effect. There were a lot more sound effects we had intended and wished to use, including more underlying drone effects, atmospheric sounds and more accurately timed laughter, but this is something we would like to to explore again in the future should the opportunity arise.

This was much more my bag than clay. I am far more used to building than I am sculpting and I was able to work with tools/materials I was much more familiar with. This immediately gave me confidence and a platform to work from.

I enjoyed working with a subject that I didn’t have to destroy to make move, something I could experiment with without the worry of damaging it irreparably. I liked the challenge of creating something that had to be manipulatable within certain material limitations and having a full day to create without the pressure of shooting and editing made this a far more enjoyable experience.

The found object character was not necessarily a character I would have made otherwise, but I am very glad I did make him! Whilst not being the most movable/manipulatable character, it was a really good exercise in expression and performance. Having just what was essentially a head and torso to play with, it really made me consider what would be enough with just those aspects to play with. Going in knowing I wasn’t intending to create a full body puppet also made me think about methods of construction that would allow me to have the most amount of stability possible, including the use of a base plate and metal body structure.

The final film I made was not timed or edited, but I wanted to use it as an opportunity to explore with expression and also eventually a nod to the inclusion of live performance aspects, which initially stemmed from me accidentally capturing myself in frame and deciding to embrace this to create something new.

Creating the wooden puppet from scratch was possibly one of my favourite things on the course so far. Having the opportunity to make something from scratch with time to design and create it with care was so rewarding. Learning specific creation techniques, methods and necessary inclusions was also really important for considering what made a good stop motion puppet.

Things like stability, rigging, maintenance and adaptability are not things I really would have considered before. As long as a puppet was manoeuvrable, I thought that was enough, I didn’t stop to think what would happen if something broke and a part needed replacing or how to think about padding and dressing characters.

While I wouldn’t ‘t necessarily take my current puppet further in terms of dressing and design as I think the paired back aesthetic works for it, I definitely want to explore this type of puppet a lot more in the future and would absolutely consider using this as a medium for further projects.

Stop motion has been a steep learning curve for sure. The weeks we have had have definitely been a trial by fire, but one i’m glad I have done.

Working in stop motion has forced me to think about creating animations into different ways, particularly in working forwards. Having to plan ahead with little time, work adaptively as mistakes and obstacles come up and work in different mediums has really helped to push me and what I consider myself able to create.

I found clay especially difficult. Making a puppet was hard enough but the concept I really struggled with was basically having to completely reform and almost destroy the character in order to make it do anything. On making my ghost figure, I couldn’t figure out how to make it move in anyway without recreating it entirely. In the end I had to sort of just accept this and in a way worked backwards, I knew I wanted to end up with the puppet i created as a final image, so i instead created new ‘stages’ of the puppet that allowed me to work towards it. I think going forward this sessions taught me the importance of both planning ahead but also ultimately going with the flow and rolling with the punches a bit.

I also learnt the hard way to make sure I keep the camera focussed…

The clay transition video, I came in confident. I had a plan, I had a design, I knew what I wanted out of the day. Almost none of it worked out the way I intended. It was very much a hard lesson in expectation and in taking the time to really explore and understand your medium.

I felt so confident with my plan, I thought I knew exactly how the make and shoot would go, but I didn’t take the time to actually try it with the materials. I know these sessions are only really time enough to have an introduction but it has really hit home how important it is to take the time to understand and explore what it is you intent to make. Being so inexperienced with clay, I went expecting my plan to go off without a hitch, but with no real evidence to think this. I would like to work with clay again in the future, but i don’t think I will do so again without really taking time to research and understand my material and what possibilities and limitations it has.

This project has also instilled the importance of learning about camera settings and how to use premier pro! Being able to make sure shots are consistent and that I am able to edit films correctly is imperative and I need to spend more time doing this to ensure I can execute intentions effectively.

The character design module was incredibly useful. I found parts of it very challenging but it really helped me understand not only what made a good character but what made a good animatable character.

I found the concepts of silhouettes and shape construction quite difficult to actualise, but once i understood that these were simply building blocks to allow me to discover how to form and establish my character, I was able to explore using these techniques, allowing me to create a form I was happy with.

I found coming up with a back story on the fly quite difficult, especially as I don’t always trust in my own narrative ideas and often depend on other people for validation/commitment to an idea. Having to come up with an idea quickly probably helped quieten this anxiety. I made the conscious decision to ‘write what I know’ and based the character on my sister and heightening and taking creative license with aspects of her personality as a child. I also kept the concept very simple, having a main motivation for the character which allowed for exploration on a sort of ‘adventure of the week’ format. This meant that I could establish world building itself before having to worry about how it would practically evolve.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to create a character and take the time to experiment and explore what that character could be like. Whilst there is a lot more work, consideration and precision required for Character Design than I ever would have expected, its something I would definitely like to take further. As part of my application portfolio I submitted a series of work that included self portraits in the style of some of my favourite cartoons, I really enjoy the challenge of translating a style guide into a design and would love to collaborate with other artists in order to translate my own styles but also work with other peoples creations and help to actualise these into practical designs.

Weirdly I have really enjoyed learning walking! Not only has it been fun to create something that feels a bit more like a finished product, it’s been really enjoyable to create something with personality and interesting movement.

I found recreating the movement myself invaluable for these cycles and really benefitted from creating specific movement that I was able to record and reference.

The bipedal walk cycle was created making a 12frame loop, 6 for each stride which then repeat. The combination of visual resources and physical experimentation made the process so much simpler. By breaking down each step/stride into its basic keys I was able to better understand weight distribution, the swings of the arms and the placement of the feet, knees and legs. I would love to experiment further with walking cycles including variations of speed and the inclusion of emotion/personality into the walk.

The mood change walk was something I really enjoyed working on. Creating a character that had purpose, personality and had to react was a really enjoyable process. Again, creating visual references and exploring the walk physical was something I found invaluable.

For the mood change specifically, I found roughing out a sort of ‘proof of concept’ draft version to work out the rhythm and beats of the animation. This allowed me to experiment with character and style before having to worry about consistency and the mechanics of the walk. For the more refined version I also played around with smears and motion lines to create more dynamic movement.

The quadruped walk was okay all things considering, due to missing the initial class I decided it would be prudent to focus on doing one thing well rather than trying to finish both the walk and the run.

Using both live references and animation examples from Richard Williams’ handbook and Stephen Cunnane’s online tutorials, I was able to create myself a 5 frame basis to work from in terms of movement mechanics. I was then able to do research into different animal movement styles and anatomy to then build off of this basic structure of movement.

Taking time to study animal skeletons at the Grant Zoology Museum was really beneficial to understanding the anatomical structure needed to create movement and consistency in the body. Despite the species being different from my chosen final piece, it was helpful to look at different foot types in person and in particular understanding the shoulder placement and action of the shoulder blade.

Rather than focussing on a particular animator or studio, I chose to instead look at the representation of Transgender, Non-Binary and Gender Non-conforming people in animation both in terms of present day and in the history of the industry.

I chose to do this as this is really the aspect of animation that inspires me, the impact it can have on societal change.

The animations that I love are ones that push forward representation and cultural progression and I wanted to look at how people who don’t fit into easy categories of cis-male and cis-male are both represented narratively, but also how they are designed. It’s an area that is very new in terms of responsible discussion and not a lot of research has been done on the subject matter.

From the research I did, a lot of writing on the matter is about how bad trans, NB and GNC representation was in past media, especially in early animation. How the reductive and over simplification of gender identity and expression was harmful in a society that already demonised and dehumanised anyone who identified outside of the binary and examples of what not to do.

Another matter that came up often was the idea of covert vs overt representation. Shows and creators that explicitly say how characters identify within the canonical narrative of the show in comparison to characters that are retroactively confirmed to be trans, queer or otherwise by creators and artists on external media. Whilst in the current climate of shows there is an argument for any representation is better than none, it is important that all people see themselves front and centre and in no certain terms. By being relegated to a fan theory, a tweet confirmation or simply a plot device, people who don’t identify as cis-gendered are reduced and othered in no uncertain terms, they are explicitly told they are less-than, not worthy of focus or attention.

In my research I focussed primarily on Hamish Steele’s Dead End Paranormal Park, a show on Netflix based on a web series and graphic novel, previously titled DeadEndia. I chose Dead End as it is a show that has uncomplicated and responsible representation across the board in terms of gender, sexuality, race and faith, it also was the only show I knew that had a queer trans-masc protagonist at the forefront. The character of Barney is a gay, Jewish, trans man in a story that doesn’t run away from this but also doesn’t make this his only facet. His transness, his queerness, alongside everything else informs his personality and his arc but it doesn’t define him.

I reached out to Hamish Steele, the shows creator (and creator of the original graphic novel and web-series) who was kind enough to sit down with me over a zoom call and talk about the show, the process of creating it and Barney as a character. We spoke for almost two hours and covered many topics from the processes of design, the pitching process, the behaviours and expectations of commercial studios and a lot more. He was incredibly insightful and humble about his experience and expertise but very clear on his expectations of the industry and how we are all responsible for doing better and must progress the industry with any work that we do. Something that stuck with me was how he said that even if every project he worked on for the rest of his life, had a queer protagonist it would still not be anywhere near enough. This was an important thing to acknowledge and really made me consider what sort of projects I wanted to work on in the future.