Goha Storyboard

Goha Model Sheet

Walk Side Drip, Splat, Boing Again

Another try:

Reference for creating Goha

This is a person I had photographed a while back. This is how I image Goha to look like. I will use the photo as reference. 

This one is an attempt to make a character its far from finished but it is a working progress.

another try its a worrying progress 

More script writing

Since my story has a hazel nut tree I researched on how one looks like. Unfortunately i don't know how to reach one to actually see it so I researched online and here is what it looks like. 

After looking at the images of the tree I realized that even though I can't access an actual hazel nut tree at least I can reach a tree that looks similar so I can better draw it from all different angles. 

Script Writing - Bible

Okay I decided to do the bible on the folk story. I realized that going back home will give me a big push when I start making my bible. I can go to different places and use them as visual reference and start drawing them in order to actually create a character and the rest of the production bible.

The folk story I am doing is Goha (which I posted earlier). He has men stories but I pick one story to make my animatic on. This will be like a pilot for this character's series. The episode will be for kids and it will be a sort episode between 2-3 minutes max. Its intended to be quick to be viewed multiple times in between their shows without actually being to long boring them to much with life's lessons. Kids get board quickly when they realize things are to educational.
Here is what I have so far.

Premises: What better way for kids to learn life lessons than from the town goof ball.

Synopsis: With the new changes that are taking place in the world, new ways to teach kids must constantly be created. What better way to encourage kids to learn by engaging them with a character that they can find entertaining and educational. 

Another try side way walk

I am trying to do the sideways walk again

I am doing the arms first on a old drawing of the character and then I will draw the character again to smoothen the arm walk and so on.

I am also seeing how old women walk and how others have done it. Unfortunately I can't film an old lady walking because they get upset but here is what I found online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMLPwNW7Q70

Something I realized from observation was that an old lady walks with some sort of hunch in her back and slowly. So I will slow down the movement of the walk much more.

Here is my try it reads better but still need fixing a lot

Here is an even better try but still not right

And again

Script Writing

Developing my idea is not as easy as I thought it would be at all. I decided to do a documentary about Alzheimer's deceases. I watched a lot of videos from other patients and their support group and I saw what happens to them during this illness and all.

So my first idea was to do a story of a couple when they were younger and the same story when they grow up.
At first I was thinking of doing it in simple lines and all. Then I experimented with doing the characters in silhouette. Here is an example I did.

And from here came the idea of play with colors through out the documentary. At the start there is cheerful colors and as the illness gets worse the colors get fader.
Another idea that came to mind was to do it in 3D. The problem with that idea in my head was that it was starting to look like the part from the movie up. The problem with that is that it won't look unique and people will no longer see it as a documentary.

So I thought of another idea which is the one hopefully I will go with. I have parts of a storyboard I am working on it but I don't know how much it would work. I would still play with the idea of color and how it changes. Below is the storyboard I started.

So basically the entire shot will take place with the same camera angle and this time in this idea there will be a voice over. I decided to make it a flat one shot because the image will constantly be changing and transforming. For that reason i believe it would be acceptable to actually keep it in place. So to get my shot to shot though process going I draw and write at the same time. The style that I am using is not the final still I am still testing with that. 

I also began looking at how other people did transformation to get the idea of how many frames and how its done basically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=swXqOaVgolM

I am also trying to make a small transformation test to see how it would work but so far I just tested the legs moving will do more.

Another taxonomy update

Taxonomy update

Here it is so far

When I was animating the heart falling in the end I looking at a paper falling. I didn't make it as flow as a paper because its a little heaver than a paper but I still gave it a sort of light feel.

I work some more and I did a walk cycle for one of the characters. Its not a perfect walk cycle on purpose cause it matches the mood of the characters and the animation.

Turning the head

Its all wrong and I am going to remove it and make it run smother but here is me trying to make her head move from one side to the next.

Smoke for drip, slap, boing

I have been having problems with animating the smoke part. Here are some stuff I have been referencing.

fantasia
cinderella
aladdin

I have tried to animate it looking like a cloud growing or and explosion and that did not work at all I have to say. I didn't keep the tries that I have made because I keep removing them while I am working to try and improve them.

After sitting with Mathew, he advised I go look at actual smoke somewhere and see how that moves. Also looking at how other animator have done it in the past.

Hopefully it will work.

okay so I sat down with Mahmoud and he actually showed me how to animate a cartoony smoke and I tried it and it works or at least I believe so. I can't upload what he showed me but at the bottom I have uploaded my drip, slap, boing so far with the smoke.

Latest drip, splap, boing

This is the part in the middle where part of it is with the music. I still didn't add the music but here it is so far. I will still add the smoke for the surprise out of the box and in-between frames when she turns her head around. Also in the part of the notes there will be a growing plant and before that the flower will eventually grow.

The notes I used the actual notes for the song and traced over the image. Some of my simple sketch storyboard changed as I am animating. I made some parts more interesting. 

Taxonomy part of part one

I've posted part of it before but I added a small hand motion (not still finished) and I turned it to fit the 16:9 frame rather than the 4:3 frame. The animation I think still fit the 4:3 frame

The next day I tried fixing it a bit more

New taxonomy animation

I referenced leaves moving in the wind to animate. I tested it in color once and black and whit another. I think I will keep it black and white. For some reason when I have uploaded it here its made it a second longer. When I have more of the animation I will post on youtube and link from there. 

Below are two of the many tries I did to reach that stage 

12 principles of animation

1. SQUASH AND STRETCH
This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Also squash and stretch is useful in animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. How extreme the use of squash and stretch is, depends on what is required in animating the scene. Usually it's broader in a short style of picture and subtler in a feature. It is used in all forms of character animation from a bouncing ball to the body weight of a person walking. This is the most important element you will be required to master and will be used often.
2. ANTICIPATION
This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform, such as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A dancer does not just leap off the floor. A backwards motion occurs before the forward action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic effect can be done by not using anticipation after a series of gags that used anticipation. Almost all real action has major or minor anticipation such as a pitcher's wind-up or a golfers' back swing. Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a scene requires it to develop a characters personality.
3. STAGING
A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective use of long, medium, or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story. There is a limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame of film must relate to the overall story. Do not confuse the audience with too many actions at once. Use one action clearly stated to get the idea across, unless you are animating a scene that is to depict clutter and confusion. Staging directs the audience's attention to the story or idea being told. Care must be taken in background design so it isn't obscuring the animation or competing with it due to excess detail behind the animation. Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene.
4. STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION
Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this method, but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action. The lead animator will turn charting and keys over to his assistant. An assistant can be better used with this method so that the animator doesn't have to draw every drawing in a scene. An animator can do more scenes this way and concentrate on the planning of the animation. Many scenes use a bit of both methods of animation.
5. FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION
When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a dress, floppy ears or a long tail (these follow the path of action). Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be followed, a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new direction. "DRAG," in animation, for example, would be when Goofy starts to run, but his head, ears, upper body, and clothes do not keep up with his legs. In features, this type of action is done more subtly. Example: When Snow White starts to dance, her dress does not begin to move with her immediately but catches up a few frames later. Long hair and animal tail will also be handled in the same manner. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of drag and the overlapping action.
6. SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN
As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like. For a gag action, we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or the surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene.
7. ARCS
All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow. Think of natural movements in the terms of a pendulum swinging. All arm movement, head turns and even eye movements are executed on an arcs.
8. SECONDARY ACTION
This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action. Example: A character is angrily walking toward another character. The walk is forceful, aggressive, and forward leaning. The leg action is just short of a stomping walk. The secondary action is a few strong gestures of the arms working with the walk. Also, the possibility of dialogue being delivered at the same time with tilts and turns of the head to accentuate the walk and dialogue, but not so much as to distract from the walk action. All of these actions should work together in support of one another. Think of the walk as the primary action and arm swings, head bounce and all other actions of the body as secondary or supporting action.
9. TIMING
Expertise in timing comes best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trial and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation is done on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on ones (one drawing photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used most of the time, and ones are used during camera moves such as trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogue animation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a situation. Studying movement of actors and performers on stage and in films is useful when animating human or animal characters. This frame by frame examination of film footage will aid you in understanding timing for animation. This is a great way to learn from the others.
10. EXAGGERATION
Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all the time. It¹s like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can be accurate, but stiff and mechanical. In feature animation, a character must move more broadly to look natural. The same is true of facial expressions, but the action should not be as broad as in a short cartoon style. Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or even a head turn will give your film more appeal. Use good taste and common sense to keep from becoming too theatrical and excessively animated
11. SOLID DRAWING
The basic principles of drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of three dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil sketches and drawings for reproduction of life. You transform these into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life. Three dimensional is movement in space. The fourth dimension is movement in time.
12. APPEAL
A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audience¹s interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork throughout the entire production. Like all forms of story telling, the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.

Walk Side Drip, Splat, Boing

It doesn't work will do it again 

New Drip, Splat, boing

I have changed the plot of my stories for both films. Currently I am working on drip, splat, boing. By the way I have spelt it the project wrong in all of my blog entries.

So I chose a different song and its shorter this time to work more with my idea.
Her is the new sound track of the song part:
Drip song final by Nadine Kheshen

Below is two segments of animation I have done so far

Model Sheet for taxonomy

These are the final characters but I did a some angles of each character just so I can get a feel what it may look like in the main positions.

last background for taxonomy

This is a new red background just a simple blur I'm thinking of using it instead of the other background I made before.

More Taxonomy background

The references and the background I did are below.

The beach for taxonomy

The last part of Drip, Slap, Boing will end with the two kids sitting on the beach.

These are the images I referenced. Below is the background that I created. I will put shadows as my characters are added on. I have decided to make the background faint because in all the images I looked at with different styles either the color was minimal or it was fade and not so striking. Now I realize this is important so the background does not garb more attention than the characters.

Meaning of color

In parts of my taxonomy my backgrounds will be a blur of a certain color. I decided to do that in order to represent the mood of the two people in the scene with the color.

Here are the websites I looked at to get the meaning of the color.
http://crystal-cure.com/color-meanings.html

I also looked at this image

Based on the research the kids part when they are running together will be a mix of pink and yellow. (The meanings are in the image). The part with the mum's fighting will be in black, grey and red for parts of the meanings also in the images above. 

Here are the tries 

I will try them again in the end and see if they fit in with the rest of background style. 

Toonboom Studio Tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMpRhVt0BbA

This one is on camera movement 

Medium Shot Drip, Slap, boing

This is unfinished but I got a block. Here it is so far and below it is the reference I used.

I realized I need to go down and take pictures for trees so I can add them. 

Wide shot Drip, slap, boing

I will add the trees in the grass when I come to animate.

Here are the three images that I referenced after looking at many.

First part Drip, Slap, Boing

This are the picture I used to create my first background.

Here is the background I made

Here are the plants I referenced I drew one of them.

Here is the background with the plant I'll animate

Walking from the back

I used the Richard William book just to get a feel and then I'll use the out lines to animate the walk to my character.

Okay I realized its all wrong the walk I tried doing for my character. I'll call it a day and try again tomorrow but here is my try. It won't let me upload it I guess its that bad. 

Videos I took for reference

Thank you to Thanous and Eirini 

Walk cycle from the back view

I'm hopefully aiming to animate the first part of taxonomy the forward walk from the back view, today.
So here are my references

This is from the book the Animation Survival Kit for Richard William

Drip, Slap, Boing motion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--4pQX-jnX0

I'm thinking now of how I will move the plants. I'm referencing some dance moves maybe the plants can move like some small dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HkFK_wTss0
In this video I like the motion with the hands this can be for the leaves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3PMCD7aMRI&NR=1

When I'm thinking of this song I'm animation to I'm splitting it into to parts the first 20 seconds and the last 40seconds. They each have a different feel. The first part is slow while the second is slow and gets fast quickly all together. 

Very rough storyboard for taxonomy

It will be sound rich but I still didn't decide how exactly