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.