Winton- Character Movement (personal project)

I was looking into movement in characters, after watching a youtube video called "Fenton the Dog", where the dog runs through camera, chasing a herd of deer. I wanted to create something like that, and have the chance to animate a four-legged character.

Christmas

Merry Christmas Campers! What a Crimbo day it was, uncle and aunt round, food to feed the five thousand and don't forget the wine :) Boxing Day, literally has become, probably for many others the day where noone cooks, just continue with what they left from christmas lunch. i can't look another turkey in the face again, well until next year. To top it all off folks, we have mountains of mince pies (not complaining) yet to be eaten, this is when i wish my mum hadn't gone mad when she saw a 50% off sign. But tis the season to be jolly (and tipsy mind you) and so i end this seasonal update with a Happy New Year to all and see you soon!

Animation Principles: Finalised animated sequence

222 frames, makes up to 18 seconds- so far, so good. To finish said piece off i want to create a bigger splash with the puddle sequence, only because the water doesn't react properly to the force thats hitting it (the gremlin). Another segment i want to work on is the actual ending, because after the puddle, you don't see the character to show he is still alive, i want to end with him falling from the top of the screen, back to where he previously stood. For the boulder sequence, i wanted to pay homage to the Indiana Jones film franchise, hence why in the sequence we see the Gremlin wearing an Indiana- style hat, whilst being chased by the boulder. It was here i thought physically shaking the frames manually would create a sense of approaching danger (the boulder), so in the finalised version, the ground shakes, the Gremlin reacts to the movement, then the boulder 'bounds' into view.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:12

Having the character created and a short sequence in mind, this is the sequence broken down into key frames only. My main aim in this was to show extreme and subtle emotions coming from the character and hopefully this shows it.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:11

The finalised Gremlin walk

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:11

Linking to the previous blog, this is a characterized "run" when the Gremlin runs away from the boulder. I kept the body still, because i wanted to focus more or less on the feet and the movement of the hands and ears as they flap about. I got this idea from watching an episode of "Ed,Edd'n'Eddy", where the character's run consists of the legs moving rapidly whilst the arms are left to either dangle or flap about in the wind.

Animation Principles: Walk sequence and interacting with objects/scenarios:10

Gremlin "crawl" created on Flash. After talking with fellow classmates, i noticed that the head in the previous walk cycles had no motion (only if i had redrawn the frames) and so making the walk look unnatural. I also wanted to see how the body's shaped would react to the "unusual" movement that the Gremlin is creating. This also effects the mouth, stretching and squashing ever so slightly gives the mouth a sense of "leadership" within the cycle. Overall, this shal be the final 1st walk cycle we see this little guy create, as i have 2 more cycles to work on.