Directing and storyboarding an animation

How does a film director relate to the animator?

In stop motion animation the director and the animator are often the same person in which case it's vital to differentiate between the two roles. 

Director of the animation:

• A clear vision
• oversees the creative process
• casts the characters
• chooses the location of the set
• decides on lighting, camera position
• Directs the characters
• Sets a mood for each scene
• Chooses a shot list

Animator

• creates characters for close-up, mid-shot and long shot, side profile, head-on
• transforms the characters eg in an explosion
• designs animated backgrounds
• creates props 
• develops transitions between shots
• creates contrast between character and background
• offers ways for characters and background to interact

Between them, the director and animator agree on a storyboard. Story telling involves introducing characters which the audience can relate to, setting a challenge for the main character which leads to conflict which reaches some kind of resolution by the end of the film. 

In animation, characters are few and all are generally introduced in the opening frames. This offers the viewer forewarning so they can anticipate what may unfold and part of the fun of watching film is to be surprised at an unexpected turn of events.

Viewers expect a film to refer back to films seen in the past: borrowing, parody, adaptation, and modernisation are central film-making and lead to recognised genres with styles and typical storylines such as gothic, realist and anime.

Once the storyboard is agreed, 

An animatic is helpful in translating the storyboard into an animation. An animatic is a series of clips or stills using the characters which is played out in real time to test for timing and clarity. 

The animatic may be shown to a naive audience in order to judge its effect. Once the animatic is adapted, the shot list is next. This is a list of all the planned shots in the film, which helps in deciding in what order to shoot the scenes. Usually this is completely different to the final sequence as the opening and closing scenes oftren closely resemble each other, with crucial differences. This saves time in building sets and animating the characters. In craft animation there have to be reserve copies of the characters as the process of filming can damage armatures or models. The shot list may indicate essential shots and optional extra shots.  But in practice, some shots work better than others.

Filming throws up all kinds of practical problems. Lack of time, change in lighting, weather and incidental factors may all prevent the non-essential shots being taken. 

So what happens next? 

Directing involves ditching shots which fail to come across and developing new shots which explain the story better. It may be necessary to make new models of central characters and to change the set to reach internal consistency. When the clips are joined together, some scenes may stand out as inconsistent and need to be thoroughly reworked.

Throughout filming, the director is asking: 

How does this shot develop the story? 

In animation this especially involves transformation and transitions which are impossible in live filming. After each day's filming, the question is: what worked best today and how can filming tomorrow take in these lessons?

pop-up animation studio

I'm fascinated by film-making and I'd like to share my interest.

   It's a lie that playing video games is active; it's simply passive consumption of someone else's imagined world. 

All modern forms of entertainment: video games, cinema, TV and internet are essentially passive. 

As a result we spend hours every day staring at screens and tapping out keys. I'm no exception. It's unhealthy and to cap it all we're bombarded with commercials to use more and more of our time in a passive way. No wonder there's so much obesity. 

The pop-up animation studio

And yet Britain leads the way in innovating ever more ingenious games and series.

   Why let someone else have all the creative fun of making something new and original?

People need to discover how easy it is to create original images and to animate them into a film and tell a story visually. [in my humble opinion] Paintings can move.

There is nothing so creative as making your own images and seeing them move

It's possible to make a film in a day. It may not win an Oscar but it shows you how quickly modern software can composit a film out of a hundred stop motion photos. 

And with attention to a storyboard, characters and lighting it can be a film worth watching.

  So I've come up with the idea of a pop-up animation studio: a tripod, camera and laptop and craft materials, such as card and paper. It's small enough to fbe easily transportable by car or train so I can facilitate workshops around the country.

  It's useful to have several copies of animation characters so I now use a template for a male and female character printed out on card in advance. They fit together with brads, little black fasteners. If I use black card the brads will be almost invisible. They're black so you can alter them and colour them in on the day. 

So there it is and my next workshop on February 6th in Birmingham will show how robust the idea is.

Mindful use of failure

An article on Life-affirming imperfection yesterday reminded me of the importance of failure in creative work.

That sounds counterintuitive but all artists have more or less success in creating some visions. A lot of people are put off by failure in their early attempts. 

How do artists and designers use failure?

Laura Snoad [@laurasnoad] writes about how success is often followed by failure, using the same approach may not work a second time; it may feel stale. 
But failure in a career could be serious; we need to know how to fail fast ; how to pinpoint the obstacles that prevent a piece of work from succeeding. 

Creative writers have critique groups; artists have muses, people who recognise the artist's intent and who can say what works and what needs to change.. It is up to the artists to find a way to respond.

Giving your self time to experiment before launching into a project is vital. 

A new character for an animation will require several iterations before the best materials and design are found.

In my work in hospitals I was interested in the rescue curve. How was a mistake such as the wrong patient, wrong dose, wrong treatment, recognised before it led to disastrous consequences? 

Atul Gawande devoted the 2014 Reith lectures to this question Why do doctors fail?

We need a blame free culture, an understanding that adverse events happen often and are worth studying in order to identify high risk places. In short, mindfulness.

As in life: breaking an arm abroad is not a tragedy; it's how we minimise the risk and deal with it when it happens.
It's something I should apply in life a bit more: experimenting more, altering, trying something different.

Cameras, paintings and original art

Do cameras help or hinder original art?

I'm considering leaving my camera at home and just being present

maybe having a handy sketchbook with me at times

I have often wondered if amateur artists are too reliant on photographs. Some subjects I see in exhibitions, such as sunrises 

 

are better as photos than paintings or drawings.

I've certainly benefitted from comparing a photo with an oil painting sketch I've done directly from life, only checking with a photo afterwards.

but it makes me wonder what's special about a painting: how does it convey emotion unconsciously?

A couple of months ago I bought an entry level DSLR camera but I've found that it's too large to fit in my pocket as the compact 'point and shoot' camera used to. 

I have to carry a camera bag and so it's harder to take quick pictures like this:

Then a short time ago, I misplaced my compact camera, 
so in an effort to apply mindfulness,I'ver decided to leave a camera behind. This will be a big change for me in 2016. I can't capture the colourful landscapes that I took photos of in 2015. 

On the other hand I'm not constantly experiencing life through a lens. A camera distances me from the raw experience; I'm constantly moving around to find the best angle. Maybe I can store the subjective experience better by being alert, storing as much as I can of what I can see, feel and hear.

If I draw in a sketch book I won't be able to capture whole landscapes in beautiful colours; I'll have to concentrate on more distinct subjects like buildings, trees and interiors, but is people that interest me most. 

 As you can see, sketching people in my local coffee shop is causing a drift in my drawings towards cartoon-like characterisation, which may be closer to what I need in order to create models for animation.

I will still use photographs. I'll talk about how useful photographs can be in a future blog.

mindful storyboards and filling the gaps in the narrative

Mindful storyboards, filling the gaps in the narrative

Creative writers always say: use all the senses. To evoke a particular place and time, include what you can see, hear and feel, also smell and taste.

This is very much like an exercise in mindfulness, to be in the present, non-judgmental, noticing what's special about the experience. In doing research, writers walk about the location: museum, library, canalside, drinking in the experience. In fiction, the character's emotion is the most vital part, but readers need to 'be there' as well.

Reviewing a piece of writing in a critique group you often find that you've left out some important detail, something so obvious it didn't occur to you to mention it. It's only when your work is read by fellow writers that your attention is drawn to these gaps. 

If you're working on your own, as most of us are, how do you guard against this tendency?

My suggestion is to use storyboard examples. Although a storyboard is used to show the sequence of camera shots in a film, it is also useful to let your story flow. A storyboard focuses on the key moments so it's useful in preparing an 'elevatior pitch' or a synopsis.

You don't have to be an artist. You can just draw stick figures and scribble in a rough background. If you pick out six 'story beats' from your novel.

The first thing you notice is that the boxes in a storyboard are  tiny . Some professional storyboard artists work on on an amazingly miniature scale.

My solution has been to use pastels on an A4 sheet like this:

I predict that you'll notice something in the pictures which belongs in the narrative but isn't there. Whose point of view matters? Are the characters looking at each other? Is there a whole scene that's missing? 

If it's helpful you can storyboard every scene and you may notice details which turn out to be useful. There is a risk is that storyboards are too visual. Our present culture is dominated by visual media: film, TV, internet, video game and the novelist's task is to portray human experience in all its aspects. 

Pictures can hint at smells, tastes, body sensations and emotions but ultimately it's  down to the writer's imagination that finds words to convey these.

Bringing characters to life

one minute 2D stopmotion video tutorial 

There are some excellent sites which show how animation is done:
Michael Parks' stop motion walks

The 12 rules of animation

Here I'm sharing my experiences in making 2D figures using cut-out foam shapes sewn together with cotton. I've let the materials decide the colours and shapes and this can cause problems later. In 2D I don't need to balance the character but they do need walk somehow, which may be complicated for my dancer in this one-minute video tutorial:

I've chosen pastel shades for the dancer's dress which will distinguish her from the other characters who will be in different shades of grey.
  I've decided to stand the characters on a cobbled pavement which will take up the bottom third of the screen, though I am experimenting with a silhouetted background of audience heads.
Follow further one-minute tutorials on walking and green screening to see how the film develops.

The point of Close ups in stop motion films

Close ups have several functions in film. 

A one minute video tutorial:

close-ups blog post
Obviously they convey detail but more importantly they can show a character's emotions more effectively than a long shot which relies on gesture. A close up can imply an unseen observer. A close up may feel intimate or scary depending on how it is used
camera angles 
Extreme close ups and unusal angles can create surprise.
reasons for extreme close ups
A close up may help in continuity by coming between long shots that would otherwise seem jerky due to a change in perspective or angle.

For these reasons, I think it's important to duplicate a character's face on a large scale in a stop/start animation. In this video, I demonstrate how you can do this to simulate the use of close ups in cinema films. 
My characters are made from foam cut to shape and sewn together. The shapes are derived from photographs using a light box, as you can see in this one minute tutorial:

Free stop start 2D animation tutorials

One minute video tutorials start here

Moving images surround us now. How easy is it to animate your own creations to send greetings and amuse your friends? Very easy.

All you need is a mobile phone or camera, a laptop and some craft materials. a table top tripod is perfectly adequate, though I use a full size floor tripod. Animation programmes such as iStopMotion are cheap and easy to use. Basic film editing programmes are available as free downloads, such as Videopad, but I prefer to use Final Cut Pro X though professionals  use Adobe Premiere.
   You don't need any fancy equipment, just a tripod camera and a simple download cable.

I'm using coloured foam sheets available from shops such as Range, cutting them to shape from a photograph using a light box and joining them together using a needle and thread. 

In this first video, I show how you can create a character that walks.

But How do you create a 'filmic' effect? That comes next... 

A 12 second cut-out animation over Christmas, a robin chased by a sparrowhawk.

Made using an oil painting and articulated 2D shapes on a perspex sheet. The software used is Stopmotion Pro, a reasonable programme with some of the features of iStopmotion such as live camera and onion skin. Multiple key presses needed to slow the action down.

25 frames a second, resolution reduced for easy uploading on YouTube.

robin animation here

How sad and other mistaken assumptions

My aim as an animator is to make models of disabled characters to challenge the assumptions people have about disabled people. 

 If I put a female character in a wheelchair people ask, 

"Will she be wearing a bandage?"

No, she's not ill.  

"A girl in a wheelchair, how sad."  

No, it's not sad, it's everyday life for a lot of people.

I'm searching for the right materials and a suitable setting, experimenting with 2D and 3D images.  I'm attempting realism, meaning contemporary, everyday settings.  People say: 

"Doesn't a wheelchair have giant back wheels?" 

No, look around you, they don't.

More to follow, with moving images.

Good Samaritan Animation: Summer Holiday Club

In August 2013 I had my first experience of working with a team of young people aged 8-13 to make an animation. I decided not to make any props in advance but to rely totally on plasticine models and cut out drawings that the children made themselves during three one hour sessions.  

There wasn't enough time to draw a storyboard, so with the help of Rev Fiona,  we told the story and made a stop/start replacement animation of the three scenes, broadly: accident, rescue and recovery. I had high hopes that the children would see the scene they had created on the day, using free-to-download video editing software: VideoPad.  I was lucky to have the help of Annie, a primary school teacher with the presence of mind to add a scream and many other essential features.

Here's the animation   

   

What I learnt

• You can't do it all in one hour.  Even with three adults and only two children, the whole hour was spent creating and filming the still shots.  I compiled the video later at home which gave time to remove the shots with hands and poor lighting.
• Try not to move the camera.  The pan at the start is okay but for focusing and continuity, it's better to fix the camera in one position.
• Chance ideas add a great feel of spontaneity, like adding foil at the last moment.
• Relax.  You can't enter the required open creative mood if you're feeling as anxious as I was in the first session.
• Changes of scale are useful. We made two models of Bob, one 4 times larger, you don't notice the switch.
• The clear plastic sheets used behind the characters reflected the light but made it easy for characters to slide.  Cutting them to size would have helped.
• Annie's contributions, which included the voiceover script were invaluable and made the film special and enabled the children to play a variety of roles: making the characters and scenery, moving the characters, operating the camera and recording the sound.
• The trickiest part was matching the film clips with the narration.  We didn't know how long each scene would be, which is why in the film, the injured Bob is lying still for several seconds.

Animation Stall, Village Fete: outcome

After the usual difficulties in matching a camera, tripod, a laptop a projector and a screen, the system was all set up on the stage and ready to run by midday.

Children aged between 4 and 14 rapidly picked up the purpose of the stall, aided by a continuous projection of this animation which I had prepared earlier:

blackbird video

Materials including blank storyboards, card, coloured letters, connectors, plasticine and some props were on hand. The first animations featured a log flume, a game of football, a fight, a shooting and an all consuming whale.

Here are the most original and inventive films: a giant pierced through the heart by an arrow against the background of the village:

And a giraffe which transforms when fed a leek by a girl:

The pace and the vitality of the ideas impressed me.  

Many people told me I was being too ambitious in offering to compile animations on the day but it proved possible to record a film with titles lasting 3-10 seconds.  Children formed into groups of one to three and drew detailed storyboards.  Having an assistant would have helped no end but the children were motivated enough to be patient when they had to queue and when I needed a break.

It was an exhausting day but thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who participated.  

Hand wash animation

Some objects around the house just ask to be animated: 

This common hand wash for instance features a coral fish in an aquarium.  By removing the manufacturer's label and cleaning the glue off with white spirit, you can make a passable goldfish bowl.  I took out the fish and cut out some of the clear plastic to make a handle. I found the fish's movements somewhat restricted.  I wanted to make it rise to the surface and eat floating titbits but I could only make it swim to and fro.    For the first part of the film I put water in the bottle but the second half is without water.  The fish's colours come through better without.

I've added a zoom and a ripple effect withj the VideoPad software.  All it needs is a story

Animation Stall at the Village Fete

 I'm having a break from 3D to plan the 2D animation at the Village Fete on Saturday.  the idea is simple. Form a group of 5/6 people, create a character, write a storyboard and film the stop start animation.  What could possibly go wrong?

Here's the set-up, an artist's easel with a camera and tripod. 

Fifty photographs would potentially make a ten second animation and if people are creative in story making it should be worth watching.  There will be eyes, ears and monster feet.

As well as plasticine:

I've baked some Fimo claws, hands and smiles to make animals like these:

 The main questions are whether people will take up the chance to make a  film [I'm hoping that people of all ages will participate] and whether the technology works on the day to show the results immediately.

Animation setback

When you're learning a technique that's new to you there will always be setbacks.  Today was one of those days.  

First of all I had to remove the substandard school blazer.  Taking the clothes on and off weakens the aluminium wiring.  You can see the bamboo bones and the rubber band separators. The trousers are okay but hanging a bit low.  The cone for the head is too large so that had to be reshaped. 

The new jacket fits better but not very blazer-like.  It's easier to approach the correct shape when you have a practice blazer to work from.  Maybe I should have chosen blue felt.  I plan to add a breast pocket with a shield but the felt doesn't hang right.    I think it needs to be darker.  Maybe I need an alternative material.

The biggest disappointment is the head which looks like a cross between Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop, totally Frankenstein creature-like.  The glass bead eyes are difficult to make life like and the mouth distorts when you try to remove the head to fire it. 

 I'll need to write off most of today's work but I'm glad I've had a go at firing the clay and making a new blazer.

Animation character 2

Day 2 

Making a 3D animation character.

Well my character has gone male with a tiny head.  I've built the chest and stomach from pieces of card taped together in stead of foam and glue.  He's a bit like Flat Stanley.  The hands and head are made of pink plasticine so they're easy to redo.  It needs to be a shade darker the forehead needs to be deeper.  I'll need a second try at the school blazer which looks comically short.  Wrapping a rubber band around the knees and elbows solves the problems of bamboo bones rattling.  'He' looks a bit paralysed but 'he' can bend 'his' elbows and knees.  I just don't want to start because the aluminium wire starts weakening as soon as it's used, according to my guide, Mary Murphy.

The shirt and cuffs and the neck are made from self adhesive foam thanks to Range store. It's easier to handle and a lot less messy.  The blazer doesn't hang that well but the purple felt is easy to sow and doesn't fray like thin material might.  The plasticine hands keep getting knocked off so I'll need a durable solution such as cut out foam or polymorph which needs to be flesh coloured.  

The eyes are made of glass beads from a craft store.  The pupils need darkening with acrylic; the black nail varnish hasn't worked.  The hair needs to be a lot better and the chest needs to be more convincing [by the way, it's supposed to be a teenage girl].

  If I can get this far with a book and no past experience, you can see that anyone can make a figure like this which will, I hope, move like a person.  Mary suggests bolting the figure down but I have a different solution in mind.

Creating an Animation character

Creating a new character.

Day One:

The biggest single misconception about animation is that you need to be an artist to do it, that you need to know how to draw.. You can be a prize winning animator and never touch a pencil or paintbrush.

                                          Kit Laybourne, The Animation Book, Crown Trade 1979

The-Animation-Book

Kit Laybourne's words in 1979 are even more true today with the potential of animation software and digital art. Kit has some brilliant ideas and samples from all different animations.  But the book that I have found most useful is Mary Murphy's Get Started in Animation.

Get-Started-in-Animation

Written by Mary Murphy, who is a brilliant animator and teacher, this is the best book I have found so far.  You can see Mary's puppet making skills here: animated puppet

Mary is also present on twitter:  @shmiminashie

  So I'm following Mary's instructions step by step to make my first ever 3D puppet.  I've acquired some aluminium armature wire: 2mm,  and 1.5 mm wide.  I've wound it in spirals using a picture hook, a drill and a metal drawer handle.

  Actually I've overlooked the first step:

"A few rough sketches of your character are essential."

  Could be a mistake, I'm waiting to see how it turns out.  May be completely different to the idea I have.

  I've secured the arms and legs using polymorph which is the most magical material ever, hard at room temperature, soft in hot water, capable of modelling and remodelling.

Polycaprolactone

  It has surprised me how quickly it cools and solidifies, but hopefully I'll get used to this.

  I've chosen to diversify and use hollow bamboo for the bones.  And here's the result.

On the left is a Pintoy figure which I'm hoping to match eventually, then there's an action figure which I picked up in Budapest this week and on the right is my figure at the end of day one.  

Obviously there is much more work to be done, eg making a head, so watch this space.

Mary suggests make three or four identical characters as the metal needs careful handling and breaks easily.