COP3 - Final Character

Using all the knowledge i gained from my studies/reseach, i modelled, textured and rigged my character. This is a very quick simplification of some changes i made along the way...

 
First Modelling/Texturing Pass:

 Further Clothing Design:

Vis-Dev Sculpt to help get a sense of the character in her environment:

Final Model:

COP3 - Character Design

For my COP3 practical i am going to go through the whole process of creating a character. These studies are me getting to grips with trying to merge character with the technical aspects of form and line.

  

After this i decided to make a mood board of character artwork i liked, so when designing my final character i can hopefully infuse some of my influences into it. 

This is my final design for my character:

 

 

COP3 - Colour Studies

Colour is one of my weakest areas and is quite relevent for my COP3 question, therefore i did some colour studies to help learn more about colour and the way colour interacts with light.

COP3 - Texturing Study

For my practical response for my COP3 i am going to model, texture and rig a character. I decided to do quick texture study before texturing my Practical to try learn abit more about it. I also got some sculpting and modelling practice with this.

I am responsable for everything except the character design.

COP3 - studies

To make sure my skills are improving and i'm not just staying in the same place, i decided to do some studies and really try to learn as much as i can about form and rendering so this can inform my practical response.

To study the fundamentals of rendering further i used a book called "How to Render: The Fundamentals of Light, Shadow and Reflectivity", i used these studies to solidify my theoretical understanding of the information in this book.

COP2 - Evaluation

For my COP2 essay I wrote about why Pixar are good at connecting to the audience. I learnt a lot of interesting stuff which has in turn helped my animation practice. In my essay I talked about how technical aspects of animation and emotional/psychological understanding of the human condition are both very important to the overall practice of making an animated film. What Pixar does so well is combining these two factors to create a seamless experience for the audience.

For my practical I made a facial rig. Rigging is my favourite part of 3d animation, although it is very technical. Combining this technical artefact with the emotional understanding is what happens when animating the rig, which I have done. This simulates the process Pixar goes through of combining the technical side with the emotional/psychological side.

Throughout COP2 I have learnt that to make anything work within animation there needs to be a blend of technical ability and psychological understanding. This is because the main objective of animation is to tell a story. Using just technical skills, there is no story to be told, whereas using only psychological/emotional understanding, there is nothing to make the story with.

For my COP3 dissertation I want to explore this field more generally and focus more on storytelling in general. This is because storytelling is everything in animation, everything stems from the story. Without a story, there is no animated film. However a good story doesn’t have to be formulised in the way most mainstream animated films are. A good story makes the audience entranced in a different world and makes the audience emote accordingly.

In conclusion, I have learnt that good storytelling is the key to every aspect of the animation and that having a balance between emotional understanding and technical skills is also very important. I will be exploring this field in COP3 and will hopefully learn a lot more about storytelling as a medium of expression.

COP2 - proposal for COP3

COP2 - Essay

COP2 - Adorno 'How to look at TV'

Adorno says that television is often put into categories and the audience has preeconceptions of the programs based on the type of show 'We are all familiar with the division of  television content into various classes, such as light comedy,  westerns, mysteries, so-called sophisticated plays, and others.  These types have developed into formulas which, to a certain  degree, pre-establish the attitudinal pattern of the spectator  before he is confronted with any specific content and which  largely determine the way in which any specific content is being  perceived.'(Adorno, 1954). Animation has the same structure and especially in mainstream animation this structure is solidified. However there is a lot more experimental animation, which breaks the boundaries of the categories and this makes them more unique and interesting.

The reason for television being put into categories and that it is already established in the audiences mind is to make it subdued so the audience doesn't have to think too much to understand it. Essentially just providing the audience with a quick cheap bit of satisfaction, this satisfaction could be multiplied by the reward of knowledge and understanding but that is often looked over. 'This defense is made in order to dismiss  insights as irrelevant because they are actually uncomfortable and make life more difficult for us than it already is by shaking our conscience when we are supposed to enjoy the "simple pleasures of life.""(Adorno, 1954).


Adorno, T. W. "How To Look At Television". The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television 8.3 (1954): 213-235. Web.

COP2 - Practical

My essay title is 'Why is Pixar so good at connecting with the viewer?' and through my essay i have explored a range of subjects relating to this question. The key point i chose to focus on for my practical was the link between technology and and connecting with an audience, the blend of good tools and artistic expression.

This blend is important, because as i have mentioned in my essay Pixar has a very strong focus on both technology and understanding of the way people take in the visual elements on screen and connect to them.

To embed this point in my practical i will make a facial rig and will animate it to show various emotions and demonstrate this link between the technological and the emotive. The facial rig being the technology and the animation being the emotive. Researching this topic and exploring it in my essay has helped me to understand my practice more because i never put much emphasis on the blend between technology and expression, i didn't really give it a thought until my COP2 research.

COP2 - Choosing a Research Question

1. Research question: Why is Pixar so good at connecting with the viewer?
 
2. Is it viable?: Ontology: fields of psychology and character studies mainly.
Epistemology: Through psychological research and existing character studies
Methodology: By using existing research on the topic and extending it down a different path.

3. What resources are available on this topic? 

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses Of Enchantment. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1976. Print. 

Pirsig, Robert M. Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. 1st ed. Morrow, 1974. Print.

4. What animations, or animation related artefacts, relate to your chosen Research Question?
Doctor, Pete, and Ronnie Del Carmen. Inside Out. United States: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, 2015. film.

5. Peer Feedback: Sounds like an interesting topic and could be quite a general question.

COP2 - Writing an Introduction

Pixar studios have been toying with audience’s emotions with such high capacity since the studio was founded by John Lasseter in 1986. What is exciting and impressive about Pixar’s animated films is the ability to present the audience with such relatable characters and story situations in which the audience can heavily relate to these components and become entwined in the film.

Undertows of psychological research can be seen in the practice of Pixar and one of the most recent films, Inside Out (2015) explicitly displays this connection between Pixar films and psychology. Pixar uses various factors to aid in the manipulation of audience’s emotions. Exploring these factors might give a better idea of how Pixar is able to create such emotional responses to their films.

If we strip it down, all an animation really is in detached terms is marks and colours on the screen, it’s our brain that adds recognition and meaning to these symbols.’If I hold my head to the left and look down at the handle grips and front wheel and map carrier and gas tank I get one pattern of sense data. If I move my head to the right I get another slightly different pattern of sense data. The two views are different. The angles of the planes and curves of the metal are different. The sunlight strikes them differently. If there's no logical basis for substance, then there's no logical basis for concluding that what's produced these two views is the same motorcycle.’(Pirsig). We put the data together in our brain that we receive from our senses and that's what builds this passage for the storyteller to connect to.

COP2 - Parody/Pastiche

Parody and pastiche are two similar terms. Both these terms relate to the reusing and reference of historic and cultural events however they do so in different ways. Parody uses the information with a satirical tone, intended for amusement. Whereas pastiche simple references the information without any other intentions. Hutcheon argues that postmodernism is parodical because postmodernism finds what is at the core of the subject and then finds a way to encompass a twist within the pre-composed conventional idea of that subject. "I want to argue that postmodernism is a fundamentally con-tradictory enterprise: its art forms (and its theory) use and abuse, install and then subvert convention in parodic ways," Jameson describized pastiche as recycling ideas and cultural aspects once they have already been done. "the random cannibalization of all the styles of the past".

COP2 - Triangulation exercise

Mulvey's text 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' (1975) and Storey's text 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' (2008) both argue that the purpose of women in films is for the male gaze and that the male role in mainstream film is to advance the narrative. 'The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure' (Mulvey 2009[1975]p.19), Mulvey explains how the male audience projects their idea of eroticism onto the female form. 'The audience's 'voyeuristic fantasy' is encouraged by the contrast between the darkness of the cinema and the changing patterns of light on the screen' (Storey 2008 p.82), here Storey is saying that the cinema environment is the perfect place for the male gaze to be released, because of the dark room the film feels more personal.

 Both these quotes tie in with each other and the two texts appear to have the same perspective however a third text titled 'reconceptualizing stardom' (McDonald, P(1998)) disagrees with the other two texts. 'Holden as Hal Carter continually removes his shirt to reveal an athletic physique. The female cast of ... each register their erotic recognition of the objectified male body.' (McDonald 1998 p.188) This quote shows that McDonald disagrees with the statements that the female figure is only present in film as a spectacle of the male gaze and that the male characters are for advancing the story. The example described in the quote shows the roles flipped as the male character is being looked on as an erotic object and the women are advancing the story.

Its important to note that Mulvey was a feminist and therefore will be naturally biased towards the women being the main victims. Considering this i still agree with Mulveys statements to an extent, i agree that the female figure is objectified alot more frequently in mainstream film than the male figure however the male figure can still be objectified sometimes and the role therefore can be switched.

Evaluation

For the context of practice 1 module our main task was to produce a 3000 word essay and an animated response which linked to the essay theme. I found the module challenging and found it difficult to get my head around ideas like triangulation and the correct way to Harvard reference. I eventually understood these elements and they are very simple really I just didn’t understand them at first.

For my essay I chose the question “What is the role of handmade/traditional animation in the digital age?” I chose this question because I find it interesting how the animation industry has changed over the past and how it may change in the future. Also I am quite open to both traditional animation and digital animation so my essay is based a lot on how traditional and digital animation can work together but also I have identified the strengths of both and the weaknesses of both.

When planning my essay I struggled with finding a good structure for the essay as I haven’t written an academic essay to this extent before and I didn’t really know how to write about the subject I chose. However in my progress review I realised that I just needed to expand on some key points and analyse an animation.  I didn’t stick to my essay plan as much as I should have done so my essay isn’t very well structured. I think the reason for this is that I expanded on the key points too much and used up too much of my essay on the key points and only a small portion of my essay is spent analysing the animation.

I enjoyed the lectures and thought they were very interesting and I have learnt a lot of new ideas and different ways of thinking from them. I thought the semiotics lectures were very interesting and also the colour theory lectures, I learnt lots of new information about the science of colours and how the brain perceives colours and how colours can seem to be different when put next to certain other colours.

For my animated response I thought it would be a good idea to combine computer generated animation and hand drawn animation.  For the first scene I animated a life drawing class to illustrate the idea that drawing practice has deep roots and those roots run through all other artistic practices. For the second scene I animated a sculptor with a chisel and hammer and a computer generated foot/leg. I wanted this to show that whatever medium is used to create the artwork, the same knowledge of the fundamental ideas of form, light and shadow are needed to succeed in producing a skilful piece of representational artwork.

In conclusion I enjoyed this module despite the work being quite challenging. This has definitely been my weakest module mainly because I struggle with academic writing, and find it hard to understand certain techniques but academic writing is definitely an important skill to have and hopefully I will improve in the future by focusing on it.

Finished COP Animation

For my finished cop animation i created half of it on maya using computer generated animation and half done traditionally. I think this helps get across what i am trying to say alot better than having it just one medium throughout.

Cop Lecture Programme

COP Lecture Programme

Lecture 1 (Module Briefing/Overview) notes:

• This programme is the theory side of the course
• Thinking about why your doing something instead of just doing it
• Research is important and links in with creation as a system

Lecture 2 (Visual Literacy) notes:

• How do we assign meaning to an object or an image of an object
• We need to make it clear what we are assigning meanings to and make sure we're doing it correctly
• We need to be able to correctly communicate ideas and concepts to a wide range of audiences.
• Some symbols are used to universally communicate messages
• Male and female toilet signs are a good example of using symbols
• Misinterpretation of a symbol can be very impactful
• Syntax is a word for the building blocks of an image
• Semantics refers to the link between forms and meanings

Link to animation: In animations signs can be used alot and it is important to have a good knowledge of how to use signs clearly and effectively and not cause the viewer to misinterpret the signs.

Lecture 3 (The History Of Image) notes:

• Historic art has an aura attached to it that makes it seem more fascinating and interesting
• Modern art is based more on the experience of visiting the exhibit than the quality of the piece of art itself
• The rise of reproduction brought change to the art world
• Artwork can never be safe from reproduction anymore
• The purpose of art has changed over time, because of reproduction art can now be used as a weapon in political attacks
• Art can be used to construct ideas of places that may not be the reality

Link to animation: It is useful to know that the purpose of art changes over time due to new technologies and art can be used in different ways

Lecture 4 (The History Of Type) notes:

• Modernism has its own typography
• Type is what language looks like
• All that is necessary for a language to exist is an agreement between a group of people that one thing will stand for another
• 25 years is the maximum time that a design is protected by intellectual property before it lapses

Link to animation: When using fonts for titles and credit or written text in scenes it is important to have a relevant font to not confuse the audience.

Lecture 5 (What Is Research?) notes:

• Research helps practice through learning from others and mistakes
• Process is more important than outcome because the outcome is just a product of the process
• Failing quicker gives more time to improve and develop
• Quantitive research is dealing with facts, figures and measurements, such as surveys
• Qualitative research deals with peoples experiences, beliefs and attitudes

Link to animation: This lecture relates to all practices in roughly the same way which is that the more practice you get making animations and the more animations you produce will help to become a better animator quicker aslong as you learn from your mistakes and do sufficient research. 

Lecture 6 (Print Culture & Distribution) notes:

• The age of print began around 1940
• Technological reproduction of art removes aura
• Artists began producing works of art made for reproduction like andy warhol

Link to animation: It is useful to know about the history of the print culture as this has informed animation practice and had a big effect on the animation world.

Lecture 8 (Consumerism) notes:

• Freuds model of personality structure
• the conciseness is just a small portion of the structure of our personality
• Bernays was using principles of psychoanalysis to help companies sell their products
• Advertising commercials were linking human desires to their products
• People were given the illusion that they were free when they were not

Link to animation: If animating for advertisements whilst not very moral it is effective to exploit human desires and make the product seem as though it will contain these desires.

Lecture 9 (Modernism) notes:

• Modern artists response to the city
• Advancements and different style of architecture
• Made people feel isolated and crave a place in the changing world
• The modernist movement was about form following function
• Also about showing the material for what it was and the design suiting the material
• Iffel tower built as a symbol for modern
• Stripping back things to their essentials

Link to animation: The idea of modernism is a interesting aspect in regards to animation and there are many modernist animations.

Lecture 10 (Post-Modernism) notes:

• Post-modernism is characterised by pessimism, exhaustion and the disillusionment with the idea of absolute knowledge
• The demolition of the Pruitt - Igoe development, St Louis was the end of modernism according to  Charles Jencks
• Postmodernism has an attitude of questioning conventions (especially modernist conventions)
• Only rule is that there are no rules
• "Artists" start producing rubbish and calling it art

Link to animation: As with modernism, there are alot of post-modernism animations, animations that explore that fact that with post-modernism there are no rules, no set narratives.

Lecture 11 (The designer as social critic) notes:

• Searching for reasons behind practice
• Designers are producing work for immoral companies
• A meme is a unit of information that gets passed around from brain to brain
• A practitioner's work should have a coherent message
• Art can be very powerful when it has a message behind it
• Communicating ideas through art can have consequences

Link to animation: When there is a meaning behind an animation it can be alot more influential and can have an impact on society.

Lecture 12/13 (Colour Theory) notes:

• Rods - convey shades of black, white and grey
• Cones -  allows the brain to perceive colour
• yellow is not a direct result of a type of cone but a mix of red/orange and green cones
• mixing complementary colours dims the colours making less bright colours
• Primarys - colours that cant be made by mixing
• chromatic value = hue+tone+saturation

Link to animation: Colour theory is useful for designing backgrounds, characters and most aspects of animation would benefit from knowledge of how colours work and how our brains perceive them.

Lecture 14/15 (Semiotics) notes:

•  Semiotics is the science of studying signs
• a code is a system of symbols or signs
• codes rely on a shared knowledge
• signifier = sound image, signified = mental concept
• the meanings of signs can shift
• meanings dont come from objects themselves but people

Link to animation: Signifiers have been present in animations throughout history and it is very useful to understand how to use signifiers and how they work.

Academic Writing Techniques

1.
The creation of art and design has been nullified by the demand for design work in companies and advertising. It brings designers to question whether the work they are producing is for a good cause or if it is morally wrong to produce work for corporate companies. Kalman (1998), Garland (2010-2014) Adbusters (2010-2014) have also argued this point.

2.
Duck amuck is an animation with daffy duck being dragged through a deconstructed world. It is clear the animators are making a point about the lack of pay the animators get, this relates to the manifestos because the animation was not created for morally wrong purposes and achieves a greater meaning than   just putting it out for blind entertainment.

3.
The first things first manifesto illustrates the point that creative practitioners should be aware that the work they are producing may not be used for dignified purposes. I agree with the point the text makes but it doesn't take into account the fact that to make a living as an artist/designer its hard to not produce work for morally questionable companies and often the artist has no choice for financial reasons.

4.
In the Fuck Commities manifesto (1998) Kalman talks about how companies and industry is destroying art and making it dull and worthless. Kalman aims to demonstrate how important it is to preserve the positive qualities of artwork, he does this by using rash almost aggressive language to get his point across.

COP Animation

For my context of practice animation i want to show how drawing is the process that underpins all artwork because this is the idea i am trying to get across in my essay. For the sequencing of my animation i am thinking of having a shot of an artist drawing a model and then it shows the paper turn into a 3d workspace such as maya where the artist is modelling the subject with a 3d modelling tool. This is supposed to show that modern technology is not a replacement for drawing it is just a helpful tool as the process and skill of drawing is all knowledge inside the artists head and if the artist can draw the model he should be able to model the subject given he is able to use the program effectively.

Essay Plan

Essay Plan

Intro:

Techniques in which digital cannot offer and traditional hand drawn can, linked to aura.

Technique/quality 1 – higher sense of connection to the viewer due to the animation being essentially straight from the animators pencil to the viewer. Reference Frederick Back as his animations connect with the viewer very intimately

Technique/quality 2 – traditional animation has a sense of charm and likeability when compared with digital animation. Quote from Paul wells book “Drawing for Animation” talking about Joanna Quinn’s work on a “Charmin” toilet rolls advert and how her style of traditional hand drawn animation has the soft, charming qualities, which are hard to achieve through digital animation, “Joanna Quinn’s distinctive drawing style has become the brand identity for Charmin toilet rolls. The softness and ease of the bear drawings imply the same characteristics in the product itself.”

Technique/quality 3 – drawing is a core process in all animation regardless of whether the final outcome is digital or hand drawn therefore drawing will always be a necessary skill in creating animations. 

Academic sources to reference: 
 Paul Wells - Drawing for animation

Wells, Paul, Joanna Quinn, and Les Mills. Basics Animation. Lausanne: AVA Academia, 2008. Print.

Paul Wells - Understanding animation

Wells, Paul. Understanding Animation. London: Routledge, 1998. Print.

Walter Benjamin - Age of mechanical reproduction

 Marxists.org,. "Walter Benjamin". N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

Andrew Chong - Digital animation

Chong, Andrew. Digital Animation. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Academia, 2008. Print.

Jane Pilling - 2d and beyond

 Pilling, Jayne. Animation. Crans-Près-Céligny: RotoVision, 2001. Print.

Animations to analyse:

Joanna Quinn - Wife of Bath