Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:9

A much more characterised walk for the "Gremlin" creature. I moved the ears only slightly, to convey movement in the head, and the hair moves more fluently with the leg/arm motion.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:8

This is how i want the final "Gremlin" to look, rough walk cycle padded out but still i feel the ears have too much movement and are distracting from the actual walk.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:7

A more detailed version of the "Gremlin" that was originally created on Flash. After seeing that the previous walk cycle had a "limp" due to there not being feet, i wanted to show movement in the feet. With this sequence, i concentrated on the movement of the hair and ears too much and so the ears seem to have a life of their own. Also, i feel the arms have no life in them, the arc movement that we were taught seems lost as the arms just resemble sticks at the side of the body- shall try again! 

Digital Skills: Rough outline of storyboard #3 Rough Animatic:

Completed on Flash, i wanted to get a rough outline of the overall film.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:6

Once again, being me, i have redesigned the "Moose" character after watching "Gremlins" and so he is no longer a Moose, but a Gremlin. This is the walk cycle of the character, completed on Flash (my first proper animation on Flash too) and i am proud to have this character finally as my CHOSEN design.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:5

Another sequence showing "Moose", here we see him encounter a balloon, popping his ear drums in the process which ends with him getting upset and angry. The purpose of this is to put the character through extreme emotions.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:4

This is two designs of the Moose character, showing the difference in height and overall design, also a rough walk cycle for each.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:3

Another "Moose" tester.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:2

Being harsh on one's self but after viewing my character known as "Nude", i don't like him in terms of design and structure. So it's good bye to him and hello to "Moose". He was thought of when i watched an  episode of Nickalodeon's "Invader Zim", i like how the character's head is 5 times bigger than the body and the limbs consist of stumps for arms and legs.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:1

So, for our new brief we have to create a character with it's own walk cycle and have it interact with 3 of these, either a balloon, football, boulder, puddle etc. For my sequence i chose balloon, boulder and puddle. The idea for the film is so we test the character in the situations and show this through body language and facial expression, portraying a variety of emotions.

My sequence is this:

Guy walks along, finds a balloon, tries blowing it up but can't. He gets in a strop and stomps off, only later to have a boulder land on his body due to his excessive stomping. After hoisting himself out from underneath said boulder, he continues his journey only to come across a puddle, which he falls through.

With this in mind, i now must design my character!

This is Nude, he is a Nudist, hence why the big "N" on his chest. He is roughly based of the characters from the Pixar short film "Night and Day". I did not want a difficult character to animate, and nor did i want the responsability of trying to animate clothing- so that is why i kept him "naked".

This sequence is just to test how our little hero here would react to a falling boulder (using a boulder as it will be appearing in the later finished film). After months of testing how my characters show emotion (see previous blogs), i hope this character captivates all that i have learnt and tested.

Digital Skills: Rough outline of storyboard #2

Dave cannot understand why weird stuff starts happening in his paradise, until he falls upon a chicken (Dave's favourite animal), clucking away but then turns into a demonic hen. Scene completely changes to a room filled with Waitrose items, all whispering "Dave" but then the mad hen enters screen again and Dave wakes up. The idea fro the dream sequence is for it to be done in first person, as if the audience IS Dave and we see what he's seeing in his dream.

Digital Skills: Rough outline of storyboard

Rough outline of the storyboard for our brief in Digital Skills #1:

The story is Dave (the guy i am partners with) works at Waitrose, so instantly i began with the idea of him falling asleep at the till.
This is the story: Dave is at work, yawning and moaning, longing for excitement- so he falls asleep. Suddenly he wakes up and he is greeted with the beautiful landscape of New Zealand, it is paradise, blue sky, vibrant green meadows and vast mountains far as the eye can see. I chose New Zealand because it is a fond memory of Dave's. Drifting into view is a hot air balloon, but it's not quite as it seems because the balloon ha sa face on it, Dave's face. Among this surreal sight are a flock of flying hands ( Dave is a Monty Python fan, so i thought a homage to Terry Gilliam's cut out style animation is needed).

Storyboard continues on the next blog.