Presentation notes.
Links to my animation for:
Waiting Research:
Undergraduate production blogs:
Showing posts with label Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Development. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Reflection on Practice
As part of the Reflection on Practice module I have also uploaded an online version of my report.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Report Writing and Presentation
From now on I will be focusing all my efforts on writing my Reflection on Practice report and preparing for my end of semester presentation. I will be trying to continue with my own practice as this is happening and will update my progress here as time goes on.
Monday, February 28, 2011
DCA Ident Animatic 02
I have update the DCA Ident animatic taking into account the ideas and direction Richard Morrions gave at the end of his workshop. I decided to go even further with the idea of giving each person a unique personality and silhouette in that each person entering shot and sitting down is a recognisable character from the history of cinema. Choosing the right characters was important for the ident. Only film characters who have a very distinct silhouette were going to work but I think I found the perfect 5.
The motion graphics for the logos could do with a rework but I am very happy with the idea as a whole, especially the first section.
The motion graphics for the logos could do with a rework but I am very happy with the idea as a whole, especially the first section.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Richard Morrison Workshop
The past few days we have been working with Richard Morrison to individually develop an ident for the DCA that would be shown before every screening in their cinema. The brief was quite brief but fairly open to interpretation. The only constraints were that it had the be about the cinema itself and not DCA as a whole and be between 5 - 30 seconds in length.
After a quick brainstorming session were I wrote down all the words that immediately came into my head when thinking about DCA and the cinema I had a fairly clear idea of what I wanted to do.
My keywords were:
DCA
Cinema
Films
Genres
Art House
Independent
Screen
Projectors
Light - Silhouettes
Cameras
Audience
Seats - Empty - Full
Sound - Audio
From those keywords I came up with the idea of playing with light and silhouettes and the relationship between the audience, the screen and the projector. The final piece would be shot using live action people with motion graphics used for the logos.
The first animatic is presented below.
We had the opportunity to pitch our ideas to Richard at the end of the workshop for feedback and advice on how it could be improved. The main area that he though I could improve is the start section. Mainly that I could and should push the playfulness of the silhouettes in that each person should each have their own personality and unique silhouette even if it doesn't make complete sense for the setting. Having a man with an open umbrella for example. I quite like this idea and will explore it further in a future update.
After a quick brainstorming session were I wrote down all the words that immediately came into my head when thinking about DCA and the cinema I had a fairly clear idea of what I wanted to do.
My keywords were:
DCA
Cinema
Films
Genres
Art House
Independent
Screen
Projectors
Light - Silhouettes
Cameras
Audience
Seats - Empty - Full
Sound - Audio
From those keywords I came up with the idea of playing with light and silhouettes and the relationship between the audience, the screen and the projector. The final piece would be shot using live action people with motion graphics used for the logos.
The first animatic is presented below.
We had the opportunity to pitch our ideas to Richard at the end of the workshop for feedback and advice on how it could be improved. The main area that he though I could improve is the start section. Mainly that I could and should push the playfulness of the silhouettes in that each person should each have their own personality and unique silhouette even if it doesn't make complete sense for the setting. Having a man with an open umbrella for example. I quite like this idea and will explore it further in a future update.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Animation Development
A big part of this year for me is to leave with a showreel that shows my range in working in different styles of animation. So as part of my own practice and personal animation development I have chosen to work on a couple of undergraduate films as an animator. The first project is 'My Welcome Intruders' by Daniel Borg and Michael Wilbourn. A few days ago I received the first rig from Mike to do an animation test and to get to grips with the character High Five.
It was just a quick test to get accustomed to the rig so it lacks that final polish but I think it turned out quite well.
It was just a quick test to get accustomed to the rig so it lacks that final polish but I think it turned out quite well.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Direction Workshop
All this week we have been working through the process of coming up with an idea, scripting, storyboarding to eventually producing a short film. At the start of the week everyone had to come up with an initial idea following a strict set of rules.
The rules are as follows:
The film had to be 1 minute in length.
It must feature 3 human characters.
Have a beginning a middle and an end.
Have a minimum of 7 shots and a maximum of 10 shots.
It must also have dialogue.
I found coming up with an idea quite difficult but was able to write out a script ready to pitch to the rest of the group. My idea was based round people being uncommunicative with others first thing in the morning and it is titled 'Too Early For Coffee' Click on the title to read the script.
My script was one of the two chosen to be made but I did not join the group that were to film it. Instead I was part of the group who worked on Tricia Anderson's script titled 'All Made Up' As well as Tricia who was the producer, James Bell was the director, Kaye Cao was editing and I was the director of photography setting up the lights, operating the camera and some sound recording.
Although it was a long week it went surprisingly well and we were all pleased with the final result.
If I can I will also post the other groups film as I find it quite interesting to see the differences between the original script and final film.
The rules are as follows:
The film had to be 1 minute in length.
It must feature 3 human characters.
Have a beginning a middle and an end.
Have a minimum of 7 shots and a maximum of 10 shots.
It must also have dialogue.
I found coming up with an idea quite difficult but was able to write out a script ready to pitch to the rest of the group. My idea was based round people being uncommunicative with others first thing in the morning and it is titled 'Too Early For Coffee' Click on the title to read the script.
My script was one of the two chosen to be made but I did not join the group that were to film it. Instead I was part of the group who worked on Tricia Anderson's script titled 'All Made Up' As well as Tricia who was the producer, James Bell was the director, Kaye Cao was editing and I was the director of photography setting up the lights, operating the camera and some sound recording.
Although it was a long week it went surprisingly well and we were all pleased with the final result.
If I can I will also post the other groups film as I find it quite interesting to see the differences between the original script and final film.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Sunday, December 05, 2010
The Programme of Study 2.0
Updated programme of study for the end of semester one.
Adam Thomson - Programme of Study 2.0
adamthomson.blogspot.com
Title:
Developing performance using character, objectives, emotion, and physical actions.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Acting Theory - Preparing a Character
After reading Ed Hooks Acting for Animators recently I have decided to go back and read some of his influences and the context from which he is teaching. But also to see if I can gain more of an understanding by reading the source material.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Research Poster
Here is my research poster for the Research Skills & Methods module assessment.
Click the image to embiggen.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Animation Fun Times
After a hiatus of over 2 years I was finding it difficult to get back into producing animation. I think the main hurdle putting me off was a severe lack of practice combined with trying to jump in at the deep end thinking I could just pick up were I left off. My skills are rusty so to warm up I have decided to go back to the basics for some practice and also to get comfortable working again in Maya. Just a quick bouncing ball and run cycle. Underwhelming but essential.
The Bouncing Ball
The Running Man
The Goon Rig was used for the run cycle.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Character Research
One of the things I want to have done as part of the masters course is to make a short film. Initial discussions revolved around idea of a science fiction story with the main character being a robot or a cyborg. Preliminary research was to look at films and television programmes (such as The Terminator Series, Star Trek, Aliens, Battlestar Gallactica, I Robot, Ghost in the Shell and A.I.) and how they have portrayed that kind of character. What interested me most visually is the stark contrast between the organic and the mechanical and the way they would be connected.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
The Abstract
Adam Thomson - MSc Animation and Visualisation 4/11/10
Research Skills and Methods - Abstract
Research Title: Research developing character and personality through movement, action, appearance and performance.
“When we speak of the illusion of life in animation, it boils down not to mannerisms and naturalistic movement, but to emotion.” - Ed Hooks
As an animator I feel that I have reached a point where on a technical level I am quite advanced but in terms of character performance my work is far more functional than emotive. With this in mind I wish to become a more accomplished animator with a better understanding of performance animation with more of a focus on why something moves than how it moves. The production of animation exploring and experimenting with character and performance will help me to really be able to get to the heart of why characters move the way they do.
These animation tests will include but not be limited to basic walks and runs to more complex performance based animations with single and multiple character interactions and dialogue pieces. Some of this work will be used to take part in the monthly 11 Second Club animation competitions.
To support the practice based research I will be reading into different acting and movement theories such as Stanislavsky and The Actors Studio, Ed Hooks Acting for Animators and Laban Movement Analysis and will also talk to local actors and performers to find out about their approaches.
The work I want to create is very much based within the context of researching and producing animation focusing on developing my understanding of character performance and then applying this to short character led animations.
Hooks, E. (2003) Acting for Animators: a complete guide to performance animation. Revised Edition. Porstmouth, NH, Heinemann
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Contextual Review
Adam Thomson - MSc Animation and Visualisation 10/14/10
Research Skills and Methods - The Contextual Review
Research Title: Research developing character and personality through movement, action, appearance and performance.
Throughout my search most of the books I have found that claim to be about character animation, especially those focused on computer animation actually have very little content on the process and techniques of animating. They instead deal with the technical side of building and rigging characters for animation. Content, which is much more, like that of a text book or software manual.
Research Skills and Methods - The Contextual Review
Research Title: Research developing character and personality through movement, action, appearance and performance.
Throughout my search most of the books I have found that claim to be about character animation, especially those focused on computer animation actually have very little content on the process and techniques of animating. They instead deal with the technical side of building and rigging characters for animation. Content, which is much more, like that of a text book or software manual.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Programme of Study - Draft
As part of the course we are to complete a document called the Personal Programme of Study that outlines our project for the year, the rationale for the project and the research methods we will use to achieve our goals. As this was the first draft of my Programme of Study some sections are still to be completed and as time goes on some will need to be updated.
Adam Thomson - Programme of Study
Adam Thomson - Programme of Study
Friday, October 01, 2010
New beginnings. It all starts here.
This is my most recent showreel of animation work. The work contained in it is from 2008 so it's quite old. In a future post I am going to reflect back on the main projects, talking about whether I feel they were successful in their purposes and what I would change about them.
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