Bickle aka DeNiro

Flash project - penultimate

Yo. Have almost finished the flash project now. I really focused on the girls face and getting body language/expression across through it. At the animated Exeter thing the other day, Richard Haynes was talking about how on Shaun the Sheep, Aardman are very empirical about the eyes. The eyes are the point of focus for human beings to understand. Once they are in place and working theres a link to the audience that you can communicate through n the whole thing is a lot more entrapping.

Im liking the way this is coming along. I have never really given lip syncing a good go and so it's nice to finish something with that technique.

Im having second thoughts about having her be in a war zone. Although I like the idea, I think it would be more distracting, im thinking of maybe having her in a gallery instead, hanging a bunch of pretentious pictures in the background to get across the girls ideal. Although I do feel this would be a bit of a cop out really, it would certainly be a lot more simple. But I do think it would make more sense. Iiii dunno. Will decide when I get to that bit.

Wont bother updating anymore now until it's finished.
LINK

Flash project

I got a lil update on the flash project. I have been working on this since last night. The way I see it im through the longest part, the lip sync - and am now over half way on the whole thing.

It's static right now, but all the facial elements will be contained in a graphic then moved about and be animated.


The way i'm thinking of doing the body is doing several key poses to go with the action, and then using them as individual stances that can then be modified. I'm not sure whether to use tweening, i've used it for the chin, but I'm not liking it all that much. The chin gets better 15+ seconds in - it becomes less erratic, that's because I was trying something out, and I guess it took me a good few frames to get the method down. Anywho i'll go back n correct the beginning bit of the chin later.

Enjoy. I'm wanting to finish this quite quick so hopefully by the weekend I will of.

UPDATE - Urrgh god, god a virus on my computer. I swear this is the first time I have had a virus in ages.. I WERENT DOIN' NUFFIN OFFICER! My own fault for trying to install Adobe Master collection I guess..

It's called the 'Vista guardian' virus - if anyones had it before n knows how to get rid of it please help because i'm a bit worried me comp is gunna die. I believe I have everything copied to my hard drive anywho, but i've never had to restart a comp from scratch and aint planning on it.

Flash project

Heelo. Been doin' some peliminary work for the flash project. Here's some sketches and ideas i've come up with for the character in the clip. I've chosen to do the 7th clip. And the girl to me sounds very posh, very 'raah', likes the sound of her own voice.

Click to view fullsize

I didnt want to go down the creature comforts road, instead I wanna keep them as human characters, but typify the voices how they sound to me. So the girl will be overly posh, overly prim and proper. Im gunna play with the setting too - perhaps dropping them in a war zone, so the audio will be reappropriated to that of reporters - out on the frontline - talking very playfully about their medium.

Inspiration for me is coming from Aardman, but not creature comforts - i'm thinking more like this...

Animated Exeter



I went home on the weekend, and while back there (along the coast, Torquay) went up to Exeter to have a look at the Animated Exeter event. It was pretty cool, I went up on the saturday and saw Richard Haynes talk about animating on Shaun the Sheep. It was interesting to hear from an insider from the industry(well, along with our lecturers of course). He was very animated when discussing animation - full of joy at doing it, it sounded like a laugh working in the studio.

It sort of grew on me while watching, this feeling that animation is (in terms of lifespan of a medium) still a very new medium and still very early in its size & growth possibilities really. It's not had its moment in the light yet. For this reason, talking & teaching about animation is still new, everything this guy had to teach, i'd figured out years ago, just going along animating. Its still got room for animation to have its '60s moment' and explode into the mainstream for what it really is.

I got this feeling to while writing my essay. It feels a bit like, well - Paul Well's or whoever else, why are there words so important? Why do I need to pack this full of quotes of theirs to back me up; animation is new in the field - what makes you such a front runner? Of course you only really need quotes to back up your own ideas - but I didnt feel a great need to put them in to fluff up the essay.

Anywho, yee the animated Exeter thing was good, there was a stand advertising Falmouth Uni right in the doorway of the Pheonix actually. I may of missed it, but did we get told about this event? I prob did miss it. Anywho I got some free clay with 'Falmouth' wrote on it. How'd ya like them apples?!

CORRECTION - Oops, yeep it was me getting it wrong. Checked my emails n we were informed about it.

Background project

Allo allo. Finished the background project and handed it in yesterday morn. It was a good project to do I found as it introduced me to two new things, drawing with perspective & acrylic painting. Drawing with a sense of perspective will be good for me, because I feel I have improved at drawing since being here - being able to get pictures more accurate - but perspective is different. That doesnt really improve from life drawing or copying photographs, it comes from drawing distances infront of you or in your head.

I never used to like  using a ruler when drawing as it felt too mathematical-like. But I really enjoyed it for the backgrounds, it's fun because it lays the distance out for you right away, then your brain just seems to know how big stuff should be in regards to it's percieved distance from the foreground.

Using acrylics, also, is something I havent done much of. And after doing two paintings with them (which takes along time in comparison to water colour) I cant say im an instant fan. They still, to me, look too childish. The colours are to blocky. Well actually that's not true, it's my fault for not being the best at mixing them - but even after a while of using them I wasn't liking them all that much, the mixing process is a bit hit and miss still - you may find the colour your looking for, but it dries up too soon, and the water gets all murky - and so on and so on. I will stick with 'em though as I wanna have a go with oils too and according to Kathy they are a step in that direction.

Also they can't be all that bad if someone can do this with 'em :
Today I think i'll chill, do some reading, watch 21 grams. Am listenin to Belle & Sebastian's 'Dear catastrophe waitress' at the mo and I reckon it may just be my favorite album of theirs.

Ta-ra.

Yo

Work is going well, have finished my essay, now just need to reference the bugger. Background project going good too, I spent most of yesterday doing one - although dont expect a masterpiece, I was watching football at the same time, so it was on off. It was the pencil one, and I did it as a test of doing perspective. I've not done much drawing like that before so it was a bit of a mish but good to learn. It'll be more fun when the perspective comes more naturally and it most certainly will improve my drawing from a different .. er.. perspective.

Not started on the 3D one yet. I prefer hand drawn stuff to 3D, but im not ignoring it. Also I have the Live at Five thing tomorrow, will see how that goes.

So today im gunna do my referencing on the essay and this final background. Am listening to the Libertines today, rekindlin ma love for 'em. What became of the likely lads?!

Heres a quick sketch of Jack Kerouac and a quote from Dharma bums:



Ta-ra

Essay

Essay Essay I say I say...
I am here working on my essay at half three, and am a man in two minds. Do I write it in my own style? Or do I stick to the robotic voice of usual essays? I dont like the way essays are wrote anyway, so not directly as a 'up yours' to 'em, but instead just as a test I think i'll write this in a more stream-of-concious free thinking mode. A test 1#) to see if it is convincing (practically & academically) and 2#) to see if it is a worthy practice for my final dissertation.

Animations trivialization ironically, makes it to lavish a subject to write pompously about. Quite thankfully - because it demotes the ego associated with the other arts.

American Psycho

Hello. Still alive, i've not posted since the last, but theres not a lot to recollect really - atleast for uni work. I have recieved some projects, got a bit of work to be doin', but nothin to write home about.

While I'm at uni i'm not just taking the time to learn about animation, im learning about other things that interest me too. For example I've really got into Dylan since I been at uni, John Lennon, Jack Kerouac and a bunch more but less so.. So excuse me if some of my posts seem unrelated but I feel they are.

Today, I been reading up on Bret Easton Ellis. I read American Psycho in the summer and it really spun me. Eyes wide open - it's truly the most disgusting thing i've ever seen or heard or witnessed - it's disgusting, but what depths it reaches, it's crazy. I really ...(i'll rephrase this before I even say it... 'enjoyed..' .. Ahem.., not the right word...) ADMIRED the novel, thought it was brilliant in that sense - a lot of admiration for the guy. To create something that disgusting.

It's the same way I felt when I showed my flat mates Requiem for a Dream... it's bloody horrid - the personification of - in the closing minutes, but for that reason it's brilliant. The girls were squirming but it was affecting them and thats the point - it takes something to do that more than just gory images also. Plus there's a very good story in there, good moral and ethic deconstruction.

I feel maybe the underlying open ending of American Psycho passed me by a bit - the 'he didnt do it' theory to the ending - that it's all a psycopathic dream concoted in the boredom of his high tower offices.. instead I just saw how it was clever how Bret Easton Ellis parralleled the two characters - two lives of Patrick Batemen.. (the mask) of his working life, his high-class drinking buddies, his hunting for hardbodies, his J&B on the rocks - with the utter psycopath who prowls the night. To me it showed how the life of this rich wall street 'rat pack' personification was just as meandering & unreal (or hyper real..(bit of animation knowledge)) as the life of a psychopath.. who tries to..
"make meat loaf out of the girl but it becomes too frustrating a task and instead I spend the afternoon smearing her meat all over the walls, chewing on strips of skin I ripped from her body"
Christ.

Bloody riveting. Haha.

It's a recommended read from me but i'm sure you'll only find it in the most estranged weirdo's book clubs.