Exaggeration, Staging, Solid Drawing, Appeal - Screenshots from "Up"

Exaggeration

The acting of the characters is intense, with quick moves and overacting facial expressions which depict their excitement . Additionally, the fire shooting and the character who moves the legs upside down, are elements which enhance the joyfulness of the people thanks to the wedding, for the purpose of comical effect.

The motion of the woman is very intense as she suddenly falls on the man and kisses him with plenty of energy , which is efficient to depict her strong character, love for the male one and the happiness she feels thanks to their marriage.

Staging

The shot is very dark in order to match with the sadness of the characters due to the loss of the child, and also, the lighting is stronger inside the room to emphasize the importance of this story part and the acting of the characters.

The male character has already reached the top of the cliff and the female appears lower than him, thus, the framing reinforces her weakness and also her struggle to walk. The sunset omens the end of her life as the day also ends, plus, the inability of the woman to reach the top and the tree probably symbolizes her death, as the tree could be used as a symbol of life and health. This camera placement enhances these messages.

Solid Drawing

The lighting describes the volume of this house as the shadow cast demonstrates the size of the roofs and the other parts of it. The vibrant colours make it more living and also relate to the happiness of the couple.

The texture of the various kinds of fabric is the most successful element of this screenshot. The detail of the seams and folds are described very well, and also, thanks to the rendering, the different kinds of textile are clearly depicted.

Appeal

The joyful facial expression of the woman as she watches her husband depicts her cheerful personality, and also her love for him.

The depressed facial expression of the man portrays his sadness about his moribund wife and reinforces the situation.

References:

Video Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg9lsacQj3k

Gomez Cabral C. (2013) Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Create Movement and Action [online]. Available from: http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/cartoon-fundamentals-how-to-create-movement-and-action--vector-19904 [Accessed: 25th March 2015]

Still Images from the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg9lsacQj3k

Good Pose to Pose Example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwnAd955KE4

In this task I was asked to criticise a good pose to pose example.

First of all, the timing of this animation is very efficient, because it demonstrates the appropriate speed of each action, the ease in and out of the arm, and also the quick, strong motion of the gun. Additionally, the follow through and the overlapping is very successful, as the chest and some other parts of the body also move in different timings after the shooting.

Digger Jump - Blocking and Pose to Pose

Critical Evaluation

This is the Pose to Pose Jump exercise playblasts, using Autodesk Maya. I animated them using the pose to pose technique.

Initially, the main theme of these projects was the Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose principle. I set the keyframes on the first video, the blocking, and made the tangents Stepped, so the software did not create any inbetweens. In my opinion, the timing of this exercise is very successful to depict this particular motion. The digger anticipates and stays, which demonstrates the gather of the energy needed for the jump, and also the next poses are quick and strong to portray the jump and fall. Finally, the timing of the follow through as the object is on the ground again is slow enough to show the force due to the jump, and also the appropriate time needed for the object to rest.

The second video is the complete pose to pose animation. I changed the stepped tangents to linear and flat ones, in order to add the inbetweens.  I believe, that the spacing is very efficient, depicting the slow in and slow out of the anticipation and follow through, and also the deceleration and acceleration when the digger jumps and falls. Additionally, the overlapping action is appropriate enough, because the antennae continues to move as the head rotates before and after the jump. Furthermore, I believe that the arcs are very well constructed, as they are curved enough to describe the movement of the object.

However, with the creation of the inbetweens the timing was not correct, because the movements appeared very slow. Plus the digger seems to stay in the air a little bit longer, which creates a slightly unnatural motion. This could be probably due to the sharp point of the peak of the jump, even though I edited the points of the Motion Trail to form the best arc I could. Finally, the overall animation appears smooth, even though I edited the spacing.

Thanks to these two exercises, I was more occupied with the timing and spacing editing. In my opinion, the animation was better with the inbetweens and the corrections of timing.

Digger Jump - Straight Ahead Action

Critical Evaluation

This is the Pose to Pose Jump Blocking exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya. I animated the object using the straight ahead action technique.

First of all, the main topic of this project was the Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose principle. This was a challenging exercise, because the use of straight ahead action could not produce an appealing animation easily. However, I believe that the timing is successful, even though I could not set keyframes and let the software to create the inbetweens, in order to organize the motion. The anticipation is quick to prepare the object for the upcoming action, also the follow through is very well depicted, demonstrating the force due to the jump. Furthermore, spacing was also a difficult part of this project, because I set keyframes on each frame of the time slider, and placed the positions of the controllers progressively, from the start to the end. However, in my opinion, the ease in and out portrays the movement of the base and the head during the follow through efficiently, as the latter shows an aspect of slow in and out, also the deceleration and acceleration as it lifts and falls, depicts the jumping very well.

On the other hand, this technique created various problems. Firstly, I could say that the arcs are not curved enough, and the animation appears abrupt. Even though I edited the points on the Motion Trail, the arcs were still straight. Secondly, I believe that the spacing of the head is not correct. This could be probably because I animated it in various positions when it moves forward before the jump, or backwards when the digger is on the air, and forth again during the fall. Additionally, I did not have a great control over the rotation, because the ghosting of the controller could not depict the poses of this attribute. Thus, the whole animation of the head is odd and unnatural in some parts. Thirdly, this animation has no secondary motion, due to the fact that it was very tough for me to animate the antennae frame by frame, and also produce an appropriate movement.

This exercise was a great opportunity for me to deal with spacing, when actually positioning the controllers progressively. Additionally, using Motion Trails and ghosting, I could be more occupied with the ease in and out.

Thought of You - Comments about the Emotions promoting and Arcs

https://vimeo.com/14803194


The task of this assessment is to comment the emotions that this animation is promoting, and also, if the use of the arcs influence the ones that I felt.

This animated short evokes various emotions. First of all, the male character waking up and touching his head gives a feeling of desperation. So do the next dancing moves when he dances alone, and the actions give the impression that he moves very heavily, probably, expressing his depression. These continuous moments when he loses the female dancer, promote again feelings of despair and sadness. Additionally, the deformation of his arms and legs also enhance these negative emotions. However, as the two characters dance together, they evoke feelings of tenderness. In the end, the emotions of depression are depicted by the female character, who kneels and touches her head, in a similar way as the male one in the beginning.

The arcs are a crucial part of the creation of these emotions. They describe these slow, heavy movements of the male character in the beginning and of course, every time this character is depicted desperate. They also enhance the feeling of tenderness when they contact each other and dance together.  In addition, the arcs reinforce the fluidity of the female character, whose texture is similar with smoke in the start or like water in some point and they help to give the impression that the character is made of these elements.

Personally, I felt thrill when watching most of the animation, especially when they danced together. I also felt sadness when watching the male character depressed or alone.

In my opinion, this is a very touching animated short, because it describes these kind of feelings, and also, the arcs and this slow action reinforce the emotional state of the characters. The music is also an important factor of this success, because the characters dance in the rhythm, and also the lyrics may relate with the concept of thinking and losing.   

Arks - 02 Ikebal

Critical Evaluation

This is the Arks - 02 Ikebal exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Initially, the main theme of this project was the principle of the Arcs. However, this was a complicated animation, because it contained a number of other principles. First of all, I animated the anticipation of the action by rotating the head of the machine, and I believe, that the timing is very efficient, because it is fast enough to prepare for the next anticipation. I achieved to create an appropriate second anticipation, as the ease in and out is very well structured to depict the energy that the object gathers in order to hit the ball. In my opinion, the reset of its original position is also successful, thanks to the timing which is slow enough and of course, the spacing, portraying the machine returning to its initial pose after this great strike.
I created a Motion Trail and moved its points in order to form a more curved arc. I believe, that the arcs are obvious enough, even though the machine motion is more mechanical than the motion of a living being.
The secondary action was also very important. I animated the antennae and also created some overlapping action, in order to depict the different timing of these separate movements. I did the same with the head rotations. In my opinion, the follow through in the end was also successful, because it depicts the gradual energy loss, while the positions of the antennae poses are decreasing.

However, I believe that the action of the machine hitting the ball is not very strong. Even though I adjusted the spacing using the Graph Editor, and also viewed the ghosted positions through the frames, the action still appears smooth. Additionally, the controller of the ball had not the rotation attributes in the Channel Box, so I could not orient it, and its motion is unnatural. Furthermore, I believe that the antennae stop is not smooth enough, this would be probably a problem with the timing.

This project was a great opportunity for me to be occupied with many different principles in order to create a coherent motion.

P.S. I wrote the name of the demo version exercise in the introduction.

Arcs - Ball

Critical Evaluation

This is the Arks - 01 Ball exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Initially, the main theme of this project was the Arcs principle. In order to make the ball squashing, I applied a squash deformer to the mesh and created set drive keys, connecting the Factor with the Squash attribute of the controller. I believe that the anticipation is efficient, because it depicts the energy that is necessary for the object to gather, in order to make this leap. I set the keyframes, but the arcs were straight lines. However, by adjusting the curves in the Graph Editor, the arcs had a more curved shape. Additionally, I used the Motion Trail. moved its points to enhance the curvature of the motion. I believe that the arc is successful, because it makes the motion more believable and not linear.

Furthermore, I assigned another squash deformer, created a new attribute in the controller and set driven keys to make the ball squash and stretch in the end. I could not use the previous deformer, because the sphere rotates as it jumps. In my opinion, the follow through, depicted by the squash and stretch as the object lands on the surface again, is very efficient for the animation. The ease in portrays the power due to this great leap.

However, I believe that the spacing is not very successful when the ball falls on the ground. I used the Graph Editor to adjust the spacing, and also ghosted it to view the distribution of the frames, but, the fall seems a little bit linear. This problem could be probably caused by the timing for this action.

This exercise was a great opportunity for me to be occupied with the Motion Trail editing for the curvature of the action. Plus, I was also occupied with the concept of arcs, and had a clearer image of what this principle is.

Secondary Action - Tail Ball

Critical Evaluation

This is the Secondary Action - Tail Ball exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Firstly, the main topic of this project was the Secondary Action principle. In this case, main action is the ball jumping on the floating surface, and the secondary action is the motion of the tail, because it is not necessary for the important action to happen. However, various kinds of principles are also evident in this animation. In my opinion, the anticipation as the ball squashes and rotates in the beginning of the action, is very efficient, because the timing is slow enough for the object to gather its energy in order to make the leap. Furthermore, I moved the floating surface further, because the arc was not curved enough. I used Motion Trail, moved the points of the curve to reshape the arc, and I believe, that the movement is more believable and less mechanical, as it would be if the arc was straight. Additionally, the follow through of the landing is also portrayed by the squash of the ball, and its timing and spacing is appropriate enough to demonstrate the power of this leap. The action is not very fast or slow. In terms of spacing, I could say that the ease in helps the depiction of this energy.

On the other side, I believe that the tail motion is not very successful. This would be probably due to the fact that there is no overlapping action. Unfortunately, I did not know how to achieve this technically, thus, all of the joints of the tail move at the same time (their key positions are on the same frame). This also lead to another problem. I could not focus on the spacing of each joint rotation, thus, their motion is not so relative to the power of the squash and stretch of the main action. In addition, the tail could be more curved when the object is in the air or on the floating surface. However, I believe that the secondary motion in the beginning is more successful, because the problem with the overlap is not very obvious, and also the timing is coherent with the main action; the tail stretches forward as the ball is squashed, thanks to the anticipation, and stretched backwards as the ball stretches releasing the energy forth to leave the ground.

I would prefer to understand my mistakes and upload an improved version of this project.

Secondary Action - Dog Tail

Critical Evaluation 

This is the Secondary Action - Dog Tail exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

The main topic of this project was the secondary action. I began by animating the main action, which is the dog walking. As the story develops, the main action is the character hitting on the box. I believe, that the animation when the character is lifted in the air should be stronger, because in this animation, it appears smooth enough. Additionally, the main action in the end is the dog which attempts to understand what happened, and the motion of the head is very effective, because the slow in and out make the motion believable enough.

While the motion of the walking was completed, I continued with the head turning. This movement is the secondary action of the animation, because the dog is sniffing around and it is not a significant part of the plot. In my opinion, this motion is not realistic enough, because it appears linear. even though I adjusted the spacing in the Graph Editor. After the dog is on the ground again, the secondary actions are the ears lifting and the motion of the tail. In my opinion, the animation of the ears is very efficient, because it portrays the surprise of the dog due to the hit, and the appearance of the cube which it had not noticed, also the timing and spacing are appropriate, giving a fast and believable motion. Furthermore, the animation of the tail is also a successful secondary action. Firstly, it shows the tension of the dog due to the conflict. Secondly, the timing is fast enough and makes the action stronger. However, the stopping of the tail movement in the end is slightly abrupt.

This was a great project because I was occupied with the separation of the main and secondary action and the different elaboration of them.

Dinner by Birdbox Studio - Critical Understanding of Secondary Example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp30_gF1GcY


The task of this assignment is to critically understand the secondary action from the Dinner animation by Birdbox Studio, and find which the main and secondary action is.

Firstly, the main action of the dog is the running as it approaches its food, and the eating of it when it reaches the plate.Additionally, as it eats, it moves its tail, which is the secondary action. This animation, is not necessary for the development of the plot, and it does not help the motion of the character while eating the food. However, I believe that this movement adds more character, because it demonstrates the joy of the animal while eating, and also gives a more natural feel to the animation, as dogs move their tails when in excitement.

Secondly, when the plate goes under the furniture, the dog wants to take it back. Thus, its main action changes from before, because the plot also changes. Its main action is supported with various movements, such as the stretch of its legs in order to reach the object and the use of other objects to help it get the plate back. Furthermore, there are also various secondary actions. For example, the motion of the tail, which has the same scope as before. In my opinion, the barking is a very efficient action, because it depicts its desperation, also the eyes blinking makes the whole animation more realistic, as its an appropriate action for most living beings. Plus, in my opinion, the way it moves its tail and ears down is also a secondary action, which helps the demonstration of disappointment, same for its facial expression. However, the same body parts and the expression on the end, when the plate is under the opposite furniture, have a different aim, they are very efficient secondary actions, because they portray the depression of the dog.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Mime Comedy critical evaluation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPMBV3rd_hI

 In this task, I am asked to critically evaluate the follow through and overlapping action of a mime comedy performance.

Initially, on 1:18 the overlapping action is effective enough, as the mime firstly leans his shoulders, torso, lower body and the waist slightly. Until 1:30, all of his leanings are very efficient in order to give the impression of turning the car while driving. On 2:08, the overlapping action is very well used while the performer attempts to make these dancing movements, as the energy begins from the pelvis and continues to the lower body, torso, shoulders and head. Same for 2:07 when the motion becomes more complicated because he moves his head left and right. Between 3:58 - 4:05, the different parts of the body move in different times, and they clearly create the feel of the comic electrocution. Furthermore, between 4:11 - 4:36, the running is also very well performed, because the mime moves the parts of the body in various times and also gives the essence of travelling a real distance to reach the car. On 4:28, the overlapping action helps him to depict the great force applied to him because he hangs on a running car.

Secondly, on 2:04, the follow through is very well performed, as the mime stops his main body and his head still moves forward and stops, due to the brake. However, it is probably exaggerated a little bit, but would be for the sake of the performance. Additionally, on 2:36, the element of follow through is better portrayed, when the mime attempts to open the locked door and stops due to the resistance, and his head, shoulders, torso, lower body and even the hips move for a short period of time backwards, then forward and stop. However, on 2:47 when he opens the door using a crowbar, he could make the follow through even more intense, by probably moving the various parts of his body, similar with his attempt of opening the locked door with the hand, previously.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Cape Ball

Critical Evaluation 

This is the Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Cape Ball exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Initially, the main topic of this project was the principle of follow through and overlapping action. The first bend was animated from the start, thus, I had to animate the Onoff attribute for the ball to leave the board, as it bends up and the sphere is thrown in the air. I created bounces by setting keys on Translate X and Y axes, and used the Motion Trail to select and move the keyframe points on the curve, editing the curvature of the motion. Additionally, I set a keyframe on the last key of the translation to rotate the sphere due to the thrown.

On the one side, I believe that the bending of the board after the ball leaves it is very effective. I only used 3 frames for each bend, and the distance between the extreme poses was decreasing, as the power was decreasing, too. Furthermore, in my opinion, the spacing of the last bounces is appropriate enough to give the impression of a physics based motion.

On the other side, I faced many problems. Firstly, I could not understand how to animate the cape controllers effectively in order to achieve the desired motion demonstrated in the demo video. The animation is not efficient from the beginning, because the moving cape passes through the surface of the board, as the latter bends down. In addition, I approached the animation using my own impression of movement, but, I did not stretched the cape as the ball was rotating before it reaches the ground, because the poses of the rotation were not similar with the ones of the video. Plus, the rotation of the sphere in the start is also problematic, probably due to a technical issue. In my opinion, the spacing of the sphere as it falls is a little bit linear, I attempted to manipulate the curves of the Translate Y attribute, but the distance between the poses was not increasing, as I observed it through ghosting. Furthermore, the ease in as the ball leaves the board is not constructed properly and I could not give the impression of energy released due to the throw.

In believe that this was a very challenging project and I would prefer to understand my mistakes and make a second attempt to complete it.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Hammer

Critical Evaluation

This is the Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Hammer exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Firstly, the main topic of this project was the principle of follow through and overlapping action. I set keyframes on the Rotate Z attribute of the spring mesh, but also assigned it a bend deformer, in order to reinforce the follow through of the object as the hammer hits the ground. I used 3 frames for each up rotation and 3 for each down rotation, and the same timing for the bend attribute. My purpose was to create a coherent motion between the deformer and the orientation. That is the reason that I used the same timing and the same spacing, making the tangents flat and unified, in order to set the motion contiguous, except from the ones where the follow through begins, making them linear to create the slow in effect. When the curves had the same shape, I selected the handles of both curves and manipulated them together.

One the one hand, the motion of the spring depicts the element of follow through very effectively. I achieved that by viewing the poses through the frames using ghosting. In my first attempt, the poses were the same as the object was moving, but the effect of this movement is decreased due to energy loss.

On the other hand, I animated the spring from the start of the animation before the hammer started rotating, because the movie would be played in a loop to create continuous motion. This probably resulted to a less flowing motion, because the spacing between the last and the first keyframe of the timeline is maybe distant. Furthermore, the vibrations are not the same, because the hammer begins to rotate early enough, so there is no much time for it to rotate and bend, as for the second vibration.

In my opinion, thanks to this project I was occupied with the follow through principle and spacing manipulation.

Diving into the Pool - Improved version

Critical Evaluation

This is the Anticipation - Diving into Pool exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya. This is the improved version of my previous attempt, while this project is more similar to the demo one.

Initially, the main topic of this project was the principle of anticipation. In my opinion, the stretch, squash and stretch again of the ball before it jumps is very effective, because it creates the impression of energy gathering due to the upcoming diving. Additionally, this anticipation of the anticipation enhances the essence of the power which is necessary to be gained. Furthermore, I believe that the spacing is also appropriate to depict the jump. The slow in as the sphere leaves the board is very well constructed in order to portray the impetus.

On the other side, the distance between the last frame where the sphere is on the board and the first where it is on the air is very long. However, the squash and stretch element could smooth out this whole motion. I also believe that the spacing during the fall could be manipulated more to demonstrate the speed due to the gravity, but I made various attempts and concluded to this depicted, because the extensive curve editing resulted to jagged motion.

In the end, this different approach of the project was an opportunity for me to be occupied with spacing and ghosting even more, also manipulate these various attributes to create the feel of anticipation.