Story Development part 2

So continuing...

Opening shot:
The shot will open with a skull being lifted from a grave. It's similar to Indiana Jones and the Golden idol or Aladdin when he finds the lamp.

How do they feel about the situation?
For Frank, the skull itself is a precious artifact, for contained within is the desired brain. Its precious to Frank. His hand movement should reflect this and also show an air of mystery.

How does the character really feel about what he is doing?
This question is slightly different and really depends on how dark are Frank's motives? Is it as dark as the devil perched in the
Night On Bald Mountain. Frank is, afterall, a monster. But how does this work with the tone of the audio?
 
Possibly speak to Matt or Stina to find musical scores that may unlock further ideas about this part.  

Shot 2 part a
Elsie: What would you do with a brain if you had one?

How does Elsie really feel about what she's saying?
This is a literal interpretation. Elsie is looking inside Frank's head, recognising its emptiness. She does not know what a brain is or looks like.
How does Elsie feel about the situation?
She asks through simple curiousity. This is reflected in her innocence of lifting Frank's scalp and looking inside head.
  
How does Elsie feel and think about those around him?
There is trust between the two characters. I intend this to be a comedy moment. Its cleaniness, shedding some light on the darkness of the opening shot.
How does Frank really feel about what Elsie's saying?
As said previously, I want this shot to contrast against the opening shot. He feels a bit caught off guard by Elsie's question. I really feel this following pic of Sir Ector, courtesy of Deja View, sums up the character moment.

This really follows into the next action.

Shot 2 part b
Frank: I would not be just a nuffin'

How does Frank really feel about what he's saying?
If he was a dog he would snort or 'anti-sniff' (really not sure of the term). Its a moment to recapture his power of authority and put Elsie in her place. This can of course be done lightly. I mentioned to Matt that I saw a Dick van Dyke moment here.

However, watching his character performance in Mary Poppins scene's A man has dreams and A comical poem, highlights once again about just how dark do I want his intentions to be. If I was to include the Sir Ector moment, this would have an impact on how this line is delivered.

I really like this expression though. Possibly, it could be used to go into part b.
 
How does Elsie really feel about what Frank's saying?
This is really the last opportunity to develop her innocence, before the value of having a brain is implanted into her head (sorry about the pun).

Shot 2 part c
Frank: My head all full of stuffin', My heart all full of pain 

How does Frank really feel about what he's saying?
This is the section that I hope to draw upon the questions asked in the famous Hamlet pose; To be or not to be that is the question. To me this means the following: To live or not to live, that is the question.

How does Elsie really feel about what Frank's saying?
She grows more interested as she finds out what a brain is. Before this excitement builds, she remains sympathic. I draw inspiration from the ugly vandal's storytelling in Tangled (See pic). She then runs across his back and steals the brain.

 (to be continued)

Story Development

In the book "In the Blink of An Eye," by Walter Murch, the author talks about his theory that we blink to edit the film of our lives. Each new blink is a new thought/chapter of our own personal stories. I really like this idea and the more time I spend digging deeper regarding into shot, the more I realise the story-telling opportunities in character animation.

Matt said tonight that bringing a character to life is like orchestrating a composition. I am a big Michael Jackson fan. The reason I mention this now, is I admire his ambition as a performer. Together with his producer, Quincey Jones, he saw creating a song as painting. Each little 'paintstroke' is brung together and layered to create a composition. To learn and be inspired, he also wasn't afraid to study and learn from the teachers of the past.

This is something I admire in Glen Keane too. When asked to name one shot that made me want to pursue a career as an animator, I pointed to the Beast's transformation. You can clearly see the inspirations from traditional artists like Michaelangeo, brought to life in this masterpiece of animation.

Moving back to my shot, as mentioned above,  each new blink is a new thought/chapter of our own personal stories. What story is being captured from the lives of Frank and Elsie? The lyrics are as follows:

Elsie:
What would you do with a brain if you had one?

Frank:
I would not be just a nuffin'
My head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain

The questions I need to answer are as follows (courtesy of Tony Chau's blog,
Life in Animation:

• How does the character really feel about what they're saying?
• How do they feel about the situation?
• What is the character thinking at each moment and how does it progress throughout the shot?
• How does the character feel and think about those around him?

If each blink shows a new chapter of thought, they can be used to divide the shot to give strength and purpose.

Wow, I may be rambling, so let's begin...
(to be continued)

Blinks

'When you hear that "90% of the acting is in the eyes, I know most people immediately jump to "eye darts" and "eye direction," etc., completely skipping over one of the most essential acting tools you have - the blink.'
Shawn Kelly, 'Blinks in Animation'

'It's important to note that blinking in real life ISN'T AT ALL the way actors/animators use blinks. Ed Hooks should chime in here, but we blink in real life because of need... I have to laugh when I read messages from folks looking for or asking for "rules" when it comes to things like this. To me, the rules are simple: the character does whatever is in character for him/her/it, whatever fits the style of the animation, and whatever conveys the mood, action, or point. No?'
Mike Caputo quoted in Carlos Baena's Compilation notes from different animators

I have started this post with these two quotes, because I wish to stress that I am not looking for a generic performance. However, there are certainly some useful guidelines to follow.

The first step was to animate a blink.


It seems so simple, but using a rig I am relatively unfamiliar with, it seemed appropriate to follow the advice of AnimSchool Instructor and Blue Sky Animator, Garrett Shikuma, Garrett Shikuma. As advised, the faceshape controls are used to bring together the brow area and cheeks into this movement, to illustrate how the face works as a whole.

Carlos describes one of Pixar's template blinks as

Frame 10: both eyes are open
Frame 11: Left eye begins to close
Frame 12: Right eye begins to close
Frame 13: BOTH eyes are completely closed
Frame 15: Left eye completely open
Frame 16: Right eye completely open


I have also tried an 'Orangic blink' as per the advice of Animation Scout .

Frame 1: Start Pose
Frame 2: Slow into movement
Frame 4: Close
Frame 5: Compress
Frame 6: Slow out of movement again
Frame 7 Open

The only thing I didn't include is on Frame 2, to start the movement of the lower lid with the inner section. This is something I saw mentioned on Michael Amos's blog, which I shall refer to as the 'zipper' technique.


The timing of the blink can help show the mood of the character. The faster the blink, the more alert your character will look. It can sometimes only take a frame to close the eye and a frame to open. But it's about picking the right blink for the scene.

How often a character blinks can also illustrate character. An unknown source on Carlos Baena's website notes:
A human blinks once every four seconds. This timing can change according to what emotional state the character is in. If anger is your dominant attribute then the blink rate should decrease to once every six seconds. The reason behind this is physical; the eyes open wide in anger, achieving a glare. If you are acting nervous then the blink rate increases to once every two seconds. This reaction is involuntary. Blinking brings realism to your characters but also emphasizes a particular emotion or mood.

A scene that I have seen discussed many times in the animation community is from Forrest Gump, when he becomes a dad.



'As soon as he realizes it's his son, he stops blinking completely. He's transfixed. Tom Hanks holds back his blinks to communicate the idea that his character is THAT intense about what he's realizing. Then a blink, and boom - he's on to his next emotion, which is guilt. He feels guilty. Shouldn't he have been there to raise his son? Did he do something wrong? The blinks are coming fast and furious now, to indicate his discomfort, his worry. Then a thought occurs to him: "is he slow, like me?" He doesn't say it right away, but you can feel the exact moment that crosses his mind, because suddenly his blinks stop again, and he's back to that intensity, and finally he works up the courage to ask Jenny his big question: "is he smart, or is he...?" Huge eyes, locked on, almost afraid to hear the answer. "He's the smartest in his class." And the blinks are fired back up again, which communicates his relief''.
Shawn Kelly

So how often does Forest Gump blink? Slowing the motion down, it appears that most of the shot is using eye darts. Now when he feels guilty, yes his blinks have increased, but no more than once almost every two seconds. Please note that this is considered fast. Meanwhile, his eyelids are instead almost transfixed. His gaze flickers back and forward from looking at Jenny, most happening without a blink. In comparison to the moment of relief, Forest blinks up to seven times in roughly 50 frames!

Last night, I stumbled across a video 'mocking' the number of blinks that Kirsten Stewart seems to do. Please note her characters are often nervey asocials, but again at the most extreme, she blinks at 4 times a second. That a public member has highlighted this, shows that at this speed seems unsettling and should be used sparingly.

I must keep this in mind when animating my 10-12 audio clip.

More notes and thoughts on the eyes to follow, but I must grab tea first - plus make a trip to the shop to purchase one of my final xmas presents. Totally feels like last min :)

Thoughts on character

This is an area that feels so daughting. How do you create a specific character? I don't mean in terms of appearance, but choice of actions.

In Disney's Illusion of Life, the Nine Old Men, talk about living with their characters, building an understanding how their characters would react. I've also heard tales of tests at studios such as Pixar, where trainee animators would create clips using the actual character rigs for Woody or Linguini. These tests were technically well-crafted, showing expect control over movement, however, the same tests failed to grasp who the characters were as individuals.

For my choice of audio, there are of course two characters. Not only must I show two individuals, but also explore how their relationship works when you bring them together.

I see the two characters having an uncle and niece relationship. Trust, friendship, respect and love are mutually felt between the two characters. This doesn't mean that the two characters cannot have tease, manipulate or provoke each other. But where does the power lie? I do not see a definite heirachy, where my Frank and Elsie (yep, from now on that's how I will refer to may characters). Therefore, who leads the action and at which point?

To illustrate this point, I wish to show this clip between Ralph and Vanellope (click on pic):

Vanellope successfully manipulates Ralph, however, there is still a respect between the two powerful characters.

Focusing upon my animation, I have Elsie perched on Frank's shoulder. The scene opens with her looking inside Frank's head. For him to turn and talk to her, the lid of his head must close. She will now have nothing to hold onto, so how does this affect her balance? On top of this, there is also a sudden movement, as Frank turns to look at the skull (the to be or not to be pose). How does she react?

After lunch I plan to shoot some reference and load a few thoughts on this.

I also hope to speak to my mentor, Matt, to find within me the key to unlocking a true character walk cycle. Not just a vanilla character walk. By this I mean one that shows either sadness or happiness, a creep or a skip etc. But how does my specific character walk? That in itself will be a challenge. I have a few thoughts, but wish to talk this through with somebody before commencing.

Creating an idea

So as mentioned in my last clip, I hope to animate a two character dialogue shot. My hope is to produce a short that has plenty of heart and character, which is much easier said than done.

Audio
My choice of audio is taken from the well-known duet, 'If I only had a Brain', sung by Dorothy and her new friend the scarecrow, in Wizard of Oz. The song choice produced debate from my online animator friends, placing doubt as to whether a new interpretation of such a highly recognisable classic could be enjoyed by an audience. However, after much iff-ing and butt-ing, a discussion with my mentor gave me the confidence to pursue the possibilities within this clip.

Here are my reasons:
I love musical theatre. My grandfather got took me to see Oklahoma at Bridgwater town hall when I was seven years old. I remember laughing through the programme before the show began. Looking through the song list; Oh what a beautiful morning, a girl who can't say no, people will say we're in love. Was my grandfather serious?? Then the curtain opened and I fell in love with the stage.

From the many musicals I have seen since, I love that Tangled was released as a musical. The characters performed the songs, rather than the music be played in the background. Alan Menken, composer upon traditional classics including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, did a wonderful job with the score. I cannot begin to count the amount of times that I have played the 'I've got a dream', which also struck a cord with love of the pantomime villan. These include character favourites like the Beast and Captain James Hook.

I then came across the reel of Michael Amos, who had I the opportunity to interview for the 11 Second Club blog. He animated the Trolley song the Trolley song from Meet me at St Loius, sung by Judy Garland. Seeing this inspired me to want to animate to musical performance.

The song, If I only had a Brain, just felt right. I felt a connection with the song, enjoyed the clarity of the vocals and thought about doing a Frankenstein character who wanted a brain for evil purposes. 

Brain-storming

I felt from the start that I wanted to move away from the idea of finding a brain for his own head. There was an idea about 'No Brain and all Brawn'. This involved a down on his luck superhero, whose cluminess and strength meant he just didnt fit in. I toyed with the idea of him talking to a girl, as well as talking to a fan. This could be either boy or girl, as Edwin Schaap proved with his 'To infinite and beyond' audio piece, the small boy voiced by his girlfriend.

My first idea was inspired by Malcon Pierce's 11 Second Club entry, A Mindless Day's Work. This in turn had been inspired by Disney short, Runaway Brain. I felt working with a mad scienctist chimp could create a variety of unusual acting choices. However true this may be, I know I would have felt too connected to the Disney animation.

My online teacher, Matthew Finch, was a massive influence on the choices that followed. Talking with him over a year ago, he had this idea to produce a reel that explored a single set of characters. How they walked, breathed and acted, would provide an opportunity similar to a film studio setup. Instead of random acting choices, decisions had to be made that were appropriate to character.

As a pantomime piece, I wondered how this scientist would obtain a brain. Would he steal it from inside a lab, would he be a grave digger... That was it!! It seemed highly appropriate to character and offered the opportunity to explore specific choices within an unusual setting.

My mind started racing. For the setting, I could have the opportunity to work from the environment designs of Andre Holzmeister.

His beautiful work for Lego was reminiscent of Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas and the work of Dr Seuss, for which I am a big fan. Andre's style showed a world fit for cartoony animation, something I wish to explore to a degree.

 Character design - girl
We also spoke of character design. Currently, my modelling and rigging skills would not support moving too far away from the designs of ready-made rigs. Matt's would!

Now, as far as I can remember, I have always been a fan of puppets. At university, I built a life size wooden puppet and carried it around for a week. I took it around Bristol, London and with it being December time, we popped into to see Santa's Grotto. On the flip side, I remember there was a clown doll that use to sit on my nan's chair. Passing the room as a five year old and imaging the clown coming to life, always gave me the creeps.

With the release of Wreck it Ralph, I couldn't help but be inspired by the Sugar Rush dolls. They seemed to fit this cartoony world. I particularly like their shoes. Together with a google search of Halloween costumes,  and Matt's love of Boo from Monster's Inc., I found a design I liked.

As the leading character, it was important that Frank's design allowed him to move in a way that was suitable for the type of animation I hoped to produce. Matt felt the audio clip had the opportunity to include a mini 'Gene Kelly' dance. 'What's the point in using this audio, if you are not going to include a dance?' Well, I wanted to steer clear of too many Wreck it Ralph similarities and also I saw in my head the duet between Tiger and Fieval in American Tale. So to move away and allow for something much more nimble, I turned once again to a Tim Burton inspiration; the 90's children television favourite, Beetlejuice.

It allowed for the character to be nimble on his feet, while adding another dimension of character. I mean, if you live most of your life without a brain, personal hygiene is never going to be one of your core values.

 

I came up with the above designs. Simple when you consider my sources of inspiration, but I felt something was starting to click.

Now at this point, I must mention the cut in Frank's head. Matt came up with this wonderful idea of the girl lifting up Frank's scalp, peering into the emptiness inside and asking 'What would you do with a brain if you had one?' He also provided this concept art to sell the idea.

I was sold, but it was one idea. Would it make it to the final cut?

Building upon the idea
The first animatic I produced tried to incorporate the idea of looking inside Frank's head.

I tried to break up the timings of the beats. I had this idea of her falling off his back and sliding down his leg. The dance to move back Frank back to screen left, was an idea inspired by Danny Kaye in The Court Jester. Frankenstein tends to have these big heavy boots. I felt this would limit his movement, especially if I was going to include a Gene Kelly moment. Then I thought, why not incorporate this idea of his feet being weighed down into a dance movement.

My problem was that the ideas felt disjointed; the characters had no chemistry and were not working together.

Matt advised that Frank was digging up a grave, he didn't need to be in the process of having a spade in his hand. He could already have the hole dug and is instead holding a skull and looking inside. It inspired a new idea regarding Hamlet's 'To be or not to be'. The pose is instantly iconic and would pose it's own questions about Frank's motives.

I shot a session of ref, exploring different ideas.

Yet, this didn't solve the problem of too many ideas happening at once. The idea of the girl looking into Frank's head and Frank looking into the skull. Too many ideas were happening too quickly. I considered dropping the girl looking into Frank's skull and simply having her perch on his shoulder. I then came across this image:

Eureka! I drew this out as soon as possible:

By using a simple camera cut, I could sell Frank's value of the skull. I am a big fan of Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain, which shows this close up of this demonic hand. Hands can be so expressive and could carry the opening of the shot. This would then provide more shock factor, and a comedy moment, to reveal the girl staring into Frank's head.

I also liked the idea of her running along his back to steal the skull at the end. If Frank is kneeling down and hunced over, his shoulders could provide an unusual platform for her to run across. It would also be nice to show his some facial expression and whip of the spine as Frank reacts to her feet digging into his body to take each step. It would be an involuntary reaction, which so unusual expressions could sell. These expressions can be felt rather than seen as this still from Tangled illustrates.

Concluding this post, I feel I have tried to move myself away from the animation of Tangled and Ralph that I love so dearly, but now returned with my own sense of purpose. Now looking forward to the next step.

The blog continues

In the last few weeks I have been granted the opportunity to visit Canada for six weeks. The trip will involvement many firsts for me:
1) It will the first time since childhood, that I have had experienced a holiday lasting more than five days! I'm going for six weeks!!
2) Those six weeks will be used to study 3D character animation  - my first opportunity outside of fulltime work, that I can really study and learn the subject.
3) It will also be my first opportunity to meet a character animator in the flesh! Yep, I have been introduced to many character animators through my online collaboration with the 11 Second Club.

So what am I doing with this crazy amount of animation/holiday! Well I'm hoping to build part of a new character animation reel, including a two person dialogue. I have my chosen audio and a story laid out for the characters. And now, through the encouragement of my teacher, I will be hoping to use this reel to record its progress.

I will be back to write more soon...