The Art of Jordan Buckner

Character Design Pages

2012-02-14T16:45:00.001Z

I finally managed to get around to scanning in some pages from my sketchbook and getting them up on the blog. These are sketches from last week and this week, experimenting with possible ideas for my male character. This has since moved forward and I am now moving ahead with digital drawings similar to my previous post.

My tutorial yesterday went really well and after some discussion on improvements needed for the animatic and character design possibilities this should be a productive week. The animatic is working well as a base, but the set-up of the situation needs work and the small subtle glances need to be more prominent.

Animatic and Design Update

2012-02-13T08:58:00.000Z

The first animatic is ready and at this stage is very rough and crude, but hopefully it is starting to move forward towards something that is more suitable for a short animation. The music is temporary, this is an aspect of the film that I will have to get after the complete animatic is generated.

Meanwhile I've been trying to make a break through with my character design and style. I've spent a lot of time sketching but it was all going round in circles. So I've tried to work digitally more and start the process again. The page below shows some of the experimental sketches that I've begun to create quick facial structures that can be developed later in more detail.

This allows for very quick studies to be generated and see which structures offer potential. From these I will create more detailed sketches and ideas. I've also been experimenting with possible styles, and created some more complex character studies along a possible art style. This style was inspired by the work of J.C. Leyendecker, a superb artist who I have referenced previously (http://jordanbuckner.blogspot.com/2011/02/jc-leyendecker.html.)

More will be uploaded later today after my tutorial.

Mudbox Tutorials

2012-02-10T16:51:00.000Z

Yesterday and last week we had our first introduction to Mudbox, which seems to be a useful software but has some limitations when compared with Zbrush. It is a pretty simple software and allows for easy transition between Maya, however, it does feel somewhat clunky and limited. Below are two of the models I worked on to get to grips with the software, the first is a sculpt from the Mudbox base head, whilst the second is a sculpt from a model provided by Simon Holland. We ran out of tablets in the first session, so the head model was sculpted using a mouse.

More project work will be uploaded soon, but I'm currently trying to put the animatic together so that I can get feedback asap. Art tests will be developed Sunday along with character design.

Art Direction: Style Test #02

2012-02-09T00:42:00.000Z

I've been trying to develop the style I demonstrated yesterday and at this stage I think it provides some interesting possibilities of were this could go. The first task was simply to texture a few more objects and see how they would look in a composition. So a sphere was added and texturing applied...

And then a picture frame was added with a texture that I needed more detail. What I like about this specific method of texturing is that it conveys everything that it needs to, but without too much detail to crowd out the information needed for the narrative.

At this stage it all felt a bit like I was at a dead end, but it seemed appropriate to mock up an environment to see how a more complete world would look.

The same toon shader was applied and rendered on a separate layer.

With a few post adjustments, the following result was achieved.

Currently I'm not too sure if this is working or not, it feels like a unique and interesting style, but does it work for the animation? Tomorrow I'll get my sketchbook pages scanned in and I'll also be working on more style tests, however this time I want to move more towards a world with a bit more colour to see how things look.

Art Direction - Style Test #01

2012-02-07T18:38:00.001Z

I've been trying to develop the style I want in its simplest form. I started by sketching out how I wanted things to look, the muted and sketchy tones that reflect those of my sketchbook had to be seen here.

I then took this idea into Maya, simply creating a cube and trying to replicate the textural quality of the image above. The initial cube with a lambert applied looks like so...

Quickly UV'd and a simple texture is painted and applied.

A toon shader outline is then applied and rendered separately with a surface shader applied to the object.

This is then comped together and the final result can be seen below.

This is a very simple test and one I will be developing this week with more complex items. Keep an eye on the blog for updates and character design coming soon.

Art Direction

2012-02-06T21:27:00.000Z

After my first tutorial for this project I feel like the energy has been lifted and I'm ready to start pushing this project forward with my own direction and style. I completely understand the characters and the tone of the piece, but something that I need to focus on is the style of the animation. All too often work looks completely CG and it is hard to lose oneself in the world. I have of course been guilty of this and so with this project I want to push style and creativity further than I have ever done so before. The animation is about human emotion and so it becomes evident that the style of animation should serve to emphasise this aspect. Therefore, I want to create a piece that feels almost hand drawn and subtle in its aesthetic. Phil showed this animation below as an example of tone and this led me to think of a number of other pieces that I would like to work from.

Thought of You - Ryan Woodward

The most effective aspect of this short is the human quality that it evokes. The animation should serve to aid the narrative, rather than feel like a synthetic addition. This was a point that I discussed within my dissertation and it is something that seems suitable for my narrative which is entirely about human quality. Ryan Larkin was one of the key inspirations for this style and his famous Walking animation still has an incredible effect.

Walking - Ryan Larkin

Ryan Larkin Walking from Ankel_Ru on Vimeo.

The animation feels as though it should share this textural quality, as well as the bubble of the drawn line. Obviously, the real difficult comes in trying to connect this with a 3d world. Phil suggested that the animation share the same tone as my sketches and so this aspect may come with the texturing of the world. More influence comes from the film below.

One More Time - Alexander Petrov

The sketches of the preproduction artwork for this film are similar to the quality I want to capture in my own. There is a very loose and human tone to this line work.

The Thomas Beale Cipher - Andrew Allen

This was an animation that Tom Beg posted last year and ever since I've really been amazed by it. The textural quality to it is outstanding in itself, but it also highlights how little detail is needed for a story to work. The world feels real and complete, but we do not see every bottle, book and suitcase that would inhabit such a space.

The Thomas Beale Cipher from Andrew S Allen on Vimeo.

The Blackwater Gospel

Blackwater Gospel is a superb short and takes the ideas shown in the above pieces but places them in the 3d world. Obviously, this is quite a dark and gritty space but the style is still a huge inspiration.

The Backwater Gospel from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

Sayonara - Eric Bates

And finally, a film that uses this style and tone again in a 3d world. Sayonara has a very distinct quality to it. The textures are muted and mix watercolour, shaders and 2d animation to create something that focuses on two characters. The textures are only applied to objects and characters that are important to the story, whilst the additional object share a grey muted shader.

Sayonara from Eric Bates on Vimeo.

The making of this short demonstrates how the mix of mediums helped produce such a stunning final outcome.

Making of Sayonara from Eric Bates on Vimeo.

Tonight I will be trying to test out a few textures on some old models I've produced, this week will be spent experimenting with art style, whilst I finish the animatic and get the character design closer to completion.

Tutorial #01

2012-02-06T09:16:00.001Z

Character sketches will be uploaded as soon as I can get to a scanner, but for this tutorial I've developed some influence maps demonstrating the art style and character influence I have taken inspiration from.

I've also developed a rough proposal which will develop as I produce more art work and research.

The Major Project Proposal

Mary and Max (2009)

2012-02-04T02:10:00.000Z

I felt a post about the heartwarming claymation Mary and Max was appropriate for such a project. When I saw the animation about a year ago I couldn't help but fall for the charm and beauty of such a piece. The film follows an unlikely friendship between two pen pals, one is a small girl in the suburbs of Australia named Mary Dinkle, whilst the other is an overweight and overanxious man living alone in New York, named Max Horowitz. Thus begins a long term friendship between two completely different people with completely different lives. The dark and desaturated landscapes of the film add to the often bleak aspects of the narrative, but the witty humour and loving characters really make it a charming watch.

It is a beautiful film and one that everyone should watch, but what really becomes important within this project is the character of Max. He is an overweight, lonely, anxious guy who at the surface appears rather odd, but at his core is really a sensitive and loving sole. These are exactly the qualities that are needed within my own TV Repairman. He needs to appear creepy and odd, but all of a sudden these ideas need to fall away and show a sensitive character at the core.

The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette and Barry Humphries. All three seem perfect for the roles they play. The design is stylised and adds to the charm of the off-kilter world, with monotone streets and misshapen object in ever shot. The world of Mary and Max seems as though it is a dark and odd place which just so happens to encircle two very human and very lovable character.

The Pianist

2012-02-04T01:33:00.001Z

The pianist character is a difficult role that I need to develop, she needs to be beautiful but in that heart aching way. She has to seem smart and polite, talented and intelligent whilst still seemingly quiet and lovely. Currently, I have spent most of my time sketching out ideas for the male character, but I need to understand the female character and start to sketch more interesting designs that move away from the original bland ideas from the previous project. On Monday I plan to go to my tutorial with new character designs, a proposal and a more developed animatic. I will be posting further art style and character design influence on Sunday as this is one aspect I really need to improve. I want both characters to feel stylised and of their own world. This will not only add charm to the animation but prevent it from looking like my previous work and help people forget they are watching CG. Firstly, here are some influences for the specific character type.

Audrey Tautao in Amelie and A Very Long Engagement

Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation

Olivia Thirlby in The Wackness

Carey Mulligan in Drive and Never Let Me Go

The quiet beauty of these characters is something that I want to achieve in the pianist character. She is successful and her walls are covered in photographs, but she is not vain. The photographs are of famous pianists she has met and she needs to come across as someone who is utterly devoted to her art. More inspiration and art direction is coming soon. My sketches won't be uploaded until I get to a scanner but keep and eye out for updates this weekend.

Shine (1996)

2012-02-01T16:43:00.001Z

A long time ago Phil suggested I watch the biopic about the life of pianist David Helfgott. Last night I got around to finally watching the film and it really is perfect for this project. David Helfgott demonstrated at a young age that he was an extraordinary piano player, but throughout his life struggled with schizophrenia. The film documents this extremely well with Geoffrey Rush playing the older Helfgott, with a beautiful friendliness and honest awkwardness, the character is both emotive and heartbreaking. The film is an interesting watch purely for the documented life of Helfgott, but Rush is really the stand out performance.

Rush's performances becomes increasingly more effective after you look at footage of Helfgott himself. The way in which he plays the piano, walks and interacts with people tell the audience that he is a tortured soul. This is an aspect which I need to capture within my own character, telling a history of the character through subtle expressions.

For the first and second act of my animation my TV repairman needs to come across as an awkward and slightly creepy person. The second act relies heavily on how creepy the character is, but at his core the repairman needs to have the same friendliness and love that Rush demonstrates in Shine. The piano becomes a release mechanism for someone who has clear struggled through life.

The TV Repair Man

2012-02-01T04:23:00.000Z

The TV Repairman is fixing the television of a famous and very beautiful female pianist, during this act we get the impression that he is a sad and strange individual who seems overly interested in the young female, standing in the corridor and listening to her play and looking at the photos of her on the wall. The Repairman leaves the apartment, with the audience assuming he is some lonely strange stalker. The scenes fades in and out, the Repairman returns to the apartment however, the beautiful pianist is not in, he picks the lock with his tools and enters her apartment, the audience is assuming that he is going to be doing something horrible at this stage. As we see him walk into the apartment the shot cuts and we see the female pianist returning to her home by the lift. This builds tension as we know he is inside and she is returning, I will continue to build this tension as the camera follows the female walking into her apartment, turning into her living room and finding the TV Repairman sat at the piano, playing it with pure beauty and perfection. We are shown a still of the pretty pianist as a child, meeting a famous pianist, with a title saying something like "When I met The Great Dante." The shot fades out to a shot of the Repairman's name badge, with his name "Vito Dante." The mood needs to be set perfectly in order for this to work, the character design and build up of the plot will allow me to make the final act resonate.

Character Profile

The TV Repairman is a hopeless yet talented man, he needs to appear as though he has suffered in his past but finds love in music. Below are a few characters from film and real life that are a big inspiration and hopefully give an idea of his demeanour.

Daniel Johnston is a musician who suffers from schizophrenia and depression, once a young and bright talent who finds peace in music. He was the topic of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston which demonstrated his love for music and the tough past that he has had to overcome.

Daniel Kitson is a stand up comedian who shares his melancholic and misanthropic view of the world through tales and narratives. He is for my view, possibly the greatest stand up working today, but his work is hard to find after he decided to stop working in TV. One thing that comes across from Daniel Kitson is that he clearly loves telling stories to crowds who are eager to listen, and this passion is clearly needed in my own character. (Check out Daniel Kitson Live at Hull)

Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love is the perfect demonstration of a character who seems disconnected from the people around him. Sandler may not be famous for good films, but Punch Drunk Love is a heartfelt and moving performance about how someone seemingly lost can find love. He plays the part with a perfect tone of awkwardness and want to find a partner.

William H Macey and John C Reiley in Magnolia not only demonstrate two incredible characters, but also prove how good a film maker Paul Thomas Anderson is. Both characters represent similar ideas, that of a lost soul who simply wants to find love. The understated performances make the final moments more moving and this is the type of performance I want to capture within my own animation. The small looks and subtle, suppressed expressions are far more effective.

Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting and One Hour Photo, both roles clearly depict a man who has suffered in the past. I will discuss One Hour Photo in more detail later, but the character that Williams plays has a creepy side which plays on what the audience expects. This is another side of the male character that I need to capture in order for the final scenes to have an effect. More info and inspiration will be coming soon, along with some character sketches.

The Major Project

2012-01-31T00:28:00.001Z

The final project has begun and for the next 15 weeks I'll be working harder than ever to get my ideas to completion. As Alan stated, this isn't a time a mess up a project and with a big project such as this I intend to work as hard as possible. Later this week I will be posting a project proposal but alongside this I'll be continuing to post research and updates on the project.

The Project Idea

I've spent a lot of time debating what to do for this project and for a long while I thought of possibly working on something simpler and more specific. However, after a few chats I realised that my real love comes down to narrative and storytelling, and so it is natural to create an animated short. Since my first year I had an idea that could be taken forward and now seems the perfect time. This idea stemmed from my Unit 4 project and tells the story of a TV repairman and famous classical pianist. The animation was original set at around one minute, but I wish to increase this to approximately 3 or 4 minutes. Check out the animatic and previs from the original project below.

This is definitely a complete remastering of the project, every aspect of it will be recreated and redesigned. The character design will be the start of this redesign and I have already started some sketches which will be up later in the week. Hopefully it will provide a personal and emotive narrative and give an insight into how I have improved over a year and a bit. The first stage is to collect a lot of research and get drawing, and then in the next couple of days I will begin to draft out the new animatic.

The Narrative

The animation tells the story of a TV repairman who is finishing a job for a female classical pianist. He leaves the apartment whilst the pianist plays music and we watch as he listens from the other side of the door. The immediate set up of the male character is that he seems somewhat creepy and attracted to a young, beautiful girl. Later we see he returns to the apartment whilst the pianist is out, he looks through her things and examines her photographs and awards that hang across the wall. Inter cut we see that the pianist is returning. The TV repairman is looking closely at a prominent photo and the tension builds as we wait for the pianist to burst through the door. Suddenly the door opens and the pianist gasps, the camera cuts to the the TV repairman who is sitting at the grand piano playing perfectly. The camera then shows the photograph he was looking at, it displays the female meeting a famous pianist when she was a little girl, with the words "When I met the great James King." The final shot shows the TV Repairman's name badge, "James King."

This is the basic idea, it will be developed into a more detailed narrative but the themes will remain the same. At it's heart it is a film about the struggles of life and the love of an art. It looks closely at what it means to "fail" at something you love on a social idea, but remaining incredibly talented at what you have a love for. I won't post too much work from the last project as I'd really like to approach it from new. However, keep an eye on the blog as research, sketches and animatics will be coming this way soon.

Noam Chomsky Portrait

2012-01-28T17:34:00.000Z

It has been a hell of a year so far, with both the minor project and dissertation coming to fruition. I'm really pleased with both pieces of work and although neither are perfect I'm more confident with my own abilities than I have been in the past. This weekend I'm taking a break and trying to relax before the major project begins, but I thought I'd share some work I did last night. I decided to pick up a tablet and get back to some digital painting, something I haven't done in a long while (if you discount all the textures I painted on the last project.) So, I thought I'd start with a portrait of Noam Chomsky. He is a linguist at his core, but his writings have lead to him becoming one of the most respected liberals and philosophers of our age. His views as an anarchist are based on intelligence and logic, rather than simply dressing in black and wearing a "screw the man" t-shirt. His books range from media criticisms to political thought on 9/11 and the U.S reaction. I think what is so attractive about Chomsky is that in an ever decaying world of unenlightened ideas he maintains logical and reasoned arguments that he conveys with conviction and grace.

"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it." - Chomsky

I am aware at the left wing, student pretentiousness that a painting such as this may demonstrate, but I really don't want to come across in such a way. Instead, I'd just like to show how much of an inspiration Chomsky becomes, not in just political thought but in the want to learn more and educate oneself to a higher standard.

The Final Chapter

2012-01-21T20:48:00.000Z

Presenting "The Final Chapter,"

Directed by:
Jordan Buckner
Ethan Shilling
Ruben Martins

Synopsis:

"The story follows our crime writer, Arthur Winters, as he attempts to write the ending of his book. As he thinks through possible ideas, things begin to go wrong around him. While having these ideas, Winters enters his dream space and starts to act like the suspects. When he finally realises an idea that works, he burst into motion to finish his book, however the simplest of the tasks is not so simple after all."

Below, the art of "The Final Chapter" gives an insight into the process.

Making of - The Final Chapter

The Final Chapter is Complete

2012-01-21T20:45:00.001Z

It has been a long project and yesterday it all came to a close. With this I feel it is about time I updated my own blog on some of the project. The Final Chapter was a collaborative animation between Ruben Martins, Ethan Shilling and myself. Preproduction started long ago and at times we struggled, but this has been without a doubt the best and most rewarding group project I have been a part of. Group projects are always difficult and stressful, but the more we worked on this project the more we started to really work as one. Every aspect of the animation came down to complete collaboration and the final result was more rewarding than I could have imagined. Even jobs that we separated out between us eventually came back to group effort. For example, we shared out the animation between the three of us, but everyone in the group contributed to every single scene. Whether this be adjusting the camera or animation, or adding textures and lighting it felt like every aspect of the animation was a product of team work. We all worked on pretty much every aspect apart from a few. I personally was tasked with the character sculpt in Zbrush and texturing Arthur Winters, whilst Ethan produced an amazing rig and Ruben modelled the character perfectly for Zbrush. But outside of these, everything came down to group decisions. The book below gives an insight into how we made Arthur Winters come to life.

The Final Chapter - Character Bible

At the beginning of the project I feared that we may all get stuck only doing the same jobs we were assigned. But we all had a chance to work on every part. I went from character sculpting to texturing, environment modelling to lighting, animation to dynamics and special effects. Sound editing, video editing, After Effects comping, storyboarding, concept art, animatic editing and of course, a lot of rendering. This is really what has made the project such an enjoyable (yet tiring) experience. I think it also helped our group stayed focused and confident with each out. Thanks to both Ruben and Ethan for a really enjoyable project that I think we are all really proud of. I am sure that after graduation more work will be coming from Atom Pancakes. A couple of days ago we worked on some posters for promotion of our work and yesterday printed them both.

I also created a short document about the process of sculpting and texturing in Zbrush for anyone who is interested in how the process works.

Atom Pancakes Zbrush Test Document

Finally for this post, here is the turnaround of our character. I can't remember if we even posted this as it seems so long ago but hopefully it gives a little insight into the detail of the character.

I will try and post some of the animation that I was lead animator on when I've sorted out all the files on my computer. The editing process has left my hard drives slightly unorganised. You can see more of our work at our website, and hopefully more to come from Atom Pancakes in the future.

http://atompancakes.blogspot.com/

A Bit More Animation

2011-12-16T01:18:00.001Z

I'd like to update you with a quick look at another scene I've been animating. This is the scene in which our writer dreams up the idea that the chef could be the murderer. He is out of ideas, and rolling his pencil across the desk he has the thought that the chef was the murderer with the rolling pin. Again, this is still a work in progress but the idea is there. I like to work on a number of different scenes over time so I can go back to each scene with fresh eyes. The video below shows where the animation currently stands.

The character needs some extra life but hopefully the movement and thought process is there. Below you can see how I first set out the animation.

From this stage a lot of detail needs to be added. The setting of poses is fairly simple within animation, especially with good reference, however, the real life and character come from the attention to detail. How the character would move into a pose and hold himself is crucial to really bringing them to life.

Atom Pancakes Update

2011-12-15T00:29:00.000Z

It is difficult to keep track of two blogs, and so most of my work is posted directly to the atom pancakes one (www.atompancakes.blogspot.com) But I'd like to share some of that work here. For the past couple of weeks we have all been working hard on animation. This is the first time we've had the chance to spend a good amount of time on this process and use a really advanced rig. So far all is going well. We have been critiquing each others work over the week and it is really helping improvement. The scene I'd like to show so far is a dream sequence when the writer thinks out the idea of the chef as the murderer. It is still unfinished, but hopefully the quick render below shows what I want to achieve. Some of the walk is really messed up and needs work but the idea is that our chef sees his target and sneakily runs up for the kill.

The big problems come from the animation I have added at the beginning. The transition between the alert pose and the run needs a lot of refinement. But so far it is starting to work. This 8 seconds of animation seems to be a very small task, but there is a great deal of work to get so far. Firstly, the action needs to be referenced. We met last week to do this and below you can see images of me looking like an utter tool as I run around Ruben's flat with a steak mallet.

Despite how embarrassing this stage is it becomes vital to creating interesting and realistic animation. We also had a ton of references from film and television. From Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, to Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther. From Basil Fawlty to Mr Bean. These references allow us to understand how our character would act and move his body. The first stage of animation is setting up each pose in turn. Personal preference can be chosen whether one wishes to use straight ahead animation or pose to pose. But I find a mix of the two helps keep it fresh and inventive. The video below shows the first idea I had for the character.

But after some time I realised this wasn't how our character would move. He is a chef who is murdering, but played by a lanky, fay British author. So, I went back to the references and started from the beginning. This gave the following pose results.

This was far more in character, but seemed a bit too simple and boring. The poses needed to be emphasised and a narrative introduced. It isn't just a character hitting his target, this dream sequence is about how a character within Arthur Winter's head would murder. So I decided to add an intro in which our character sees his victim. This led to this version and later, the updated version shown at the top of the post.

This sequence should be finished soon. The real problems are those when the character goes from his attention pose, to his sneak. But that should be a simple fix. I have a few other scenes that are currently still work in progress but they should be up at the end of the week so keep an eye out.

In between animation I've been continuing work on the office environment which is getting closer to completion. There are still tweaks to be made and render times to be worked out but it is finally starting to feel like Arthur Winter's office. Below you can see some test renders showing the different lighting stages, from daytime to night time. This produces an effective result but we are still looking into lowering our render time.

You can also see the office environment layout, filled with books, papers and furniture. Again, there are still a few props to add and textures to be connected but this will be done very soon.

We will be displaying the full range of textures in our "The Art of The Final Chapter" book, but as you can see below the texture list is ever growing. Ruben and I have worked on a ton of different textures all to create a realistic world.

Animation is going nicely, and we are determined to produce the best animation possible. More updates on this will come later this week after we meet to critique and discuss our work so far.

The Final Chapter - Coming Soon

2011-12-06T02:11:00.001Z

Follow our progress on our website:

www.atompancakes.blogspot.com

Atom Pancakes Update

2011-11-25T02:49:00.001Z

It has been a tense couple of weeks for everyone on third year as we have all been struggling to get our dissertation first draft complete. But, now that its over, it is time to move on quickly with the project. I've been spending my time lately on a variety of different things, from UV layout, to texturing to modelling final props and testing out possible lighting set-ups. The team is working well, and although the dissertation provided a slight bump in our schedule I think we will be moving on quickly in the coming weeks as animation begins. Ethan has produced an incredible rig which really is a step up from anything I've seen. Ruben has also been working incredibly hard on textures and props. I have been working on similar aspects and although there is still a lot in the air, (half finished models and textures) the images below may provide an insight into some of my latest creations.

I have been working on the writer's office scene the last couple of days, and will be moving on with the exterior scene soon. The props are all in various states of texturing, but when complete will all be put into the scene ready to light. The first prop model I completed at the end of last week was the chair, which needed completely resculpting in Zbrush and painting. The outcome can be seen below.

Last week, in between various dissertation sessions I made a lot tweaks to the character textures. This stage is always extremely timely, and is difficult to see but after feedback with the group a lot of tweaks were needed to get the textures just right. Below you can see the updated shader with the tweaked character textures.

There is a lot to do at Atom Pancakes but the team are doing an incredible job. Keep updated with our work at www.atompancakes.blogspot.com to see some great progress coming soon. I will also be updating my blog with some info on my dissertation in the near future.

Tyrannosaur

2011-11-13T04:15:00.001Z

Tyrannosaur is the directorial debut from the incredibly talented Paddy Considine (Dead Man's Shoes, Red Riding.) It is a film that currently only has a small screening across the country, but from the trailer and recent reviews it looks like a film that is definitely worth checking out. Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch it yet but will do as soon as the opportunity presents. Starring Olivia Colman (Peep Show,) Eddie Marsan (Red Riding) and the chilling Perer Mullan (Boy A, Red Riding,) the central cast is rather incredible. The narrative concentrates on these three and the struggle between violence and love. Hannah (Colman) is locked in an abusive relationship which becomes strained after she tries to help a man who comes into her Christian charity shop. Paddy Considine speaks little about the story in interviews, and has said that it is a very "human story." This is the essence of the film, concerned with human relationships and emotion it looks rather stunning, but truthful and gut wrenching.

The film was written in a week by Considine and based from a short he previously made titled Dog Altogether. This is one of the few films that has stood out to me for a long time and hopefully I'll get to see it soon. The biggest criticisms I've read about it seem to be due to it's darkness and melancholy atmosphere. This seems like an odd criticism, and I think far too many forget that cinema should be primarily about art and not keeping stupid people entertained. The other criticism I've heard is that it has no dinosaurs in, but frankly, those morons can piss off back to a Transformers screening. If you get the chance to see this film, check it out. You may find that cinema can be far more than just a couple of hours of wasted life.

Project Update

2011-11-12T03:45:00.001Z

Apologies for again not updating my own blog a great deal, but I've been busy working and this post will hopefully show some of the work I've produced in the last couple of weeks. The project is going great and we are working quickly towards animation. I've been working Zbrush this week, sculpting a high poly version of the character and producing texture, normal and ambient occlusion maps. This is the first time I've used Zbrush within the pipeline of a project and it is an incredible addition. Below are some images from this stage, demonstrating the high poly sculpt and poly paint textures.

From here I generated normal and displacement maps from Zbrush and took them into Maya to apply to the character. So far, this has only been tested on the head, but normal maps seems to be the best option. Displacement maps didn't help as much as I'd hoped and they increased render time a lot.

No maps Applied.

Normal Maps

Displacement Maps

The effects are subtle but add an extra level of detail that is normally missing from student films. These sculpts need some refinement, especially in the hair geometry. The images below are directly from Zbrush showing the first stage of the texturing using polypaint.

This texture requires more work but I have used it in the first test for the fake sub surface scattering shader. The images below show how this shader is refined.

There is a lot of work to be done in refining this process but it is starting to come together nicely. I've also been working on modelling the environments and props, all of which will be textured and sculpted this week.

I've also been testing out some normal maps to add detail to our props without adding a great deal of render time. The images below first show the wall panels created using a high poly model that is then projected to a low poly version using normal maps. Below this is the first Zbrush test showing sculpted details on the back rest.

In addition, last week I skinned the character for Ethan to use with his rig. This will need additional work when the rig is complete and errors are more visible, but the video below demonstrates this process in action.

Time Lapse Painting

2011-10-05T02:02:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning to create a time lapse of my work before but it is always at the bottom of a very long list of things to do. But this project, Atom Pancakes is trying to show how we work behind the scenes. Hopefully, this will be the first of many time lapse videos showing how I work. The image below is a final concept of the typewriter. It is still in need of a few tweaks, but hopefully from this you can get a sense of how I like to work.

Concept Art at Atom Pancakes

2011-10-05T01:58:00.003+01:00

The start of this year has at times been a headache (this is pretty normal during preproduction,) but now work is starting to get going I wanted to update my own blog with some concept art I've been working on for a collaboration with our new studio Atom Pancakes.

http://atompancakes.blogspot.com/

Most of these pieces have been a challenge one way or another as I tried to change style and direction to suit the project.

The Character
The first concept below was simply trying to bring our character to life. His design was created by Ruben and this quick painting hopefully gives an idea of what our final character will look like.

We have only just finalised our narrative so for some time I was working with material that wasn't definite or necessarily going to be used. Due to this, quite a few pieces of work were scrapped. The painting below was a concept based on a slightly different story, where our writer coincidental kills himself while coming up with ideas for his book.

The Environment

I also produced a number of concepts for environments that will not be in the final animation. However, there are a few pieces that are going forward into production stage. Below you can see what our writer's office looks like, along with some colour variations.

I'll hopefully be working on an exterior concept if time permits, but alongside these I've worked on props and currently I've been working on storyboards. Below are some concepts that won't be needed during production. This exterior environments was from the first script we developed, in which our writer was situated in an old cottage hideout. The image below this was the original concept of the writer's office.

This is a final concept of inside the writer's office. Hopefully this gives a better impression of the book filled study in which he works.

Keep an eye out for more work coming soon...the storyboards and further preproduction artwork will be posted soon.

Drive (2011)

2011-10-03T22:07:00.001+01:00

Uni is starting to ramp up and I've realised that this year my blog has been suffering somewhat, so from now on I'll be back online. But before I starting posting work I wanted to talk about a film I managed to get to see last week.

Drive is the latest film by director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. I had my doubts about this film before viewing it, after hearing mixed reviews it didn't seem to go down too well with critics. But it is without doubt an absolute masterpiece. It is a work completely of Refn's style. His stunning mix of music, lighting and composition make him stand out beyond most other directors and his confidence with the camera is clear. Gosling, as usual, is superb. His acting is subtle and natural, with limited dialogue he creates an intense and complex character that says little but has a powerful impact on the screen. The story develops at a perfect pace, slowly intensifying until Gosling's character breaks.

Very few films have such style and power. Even fewer are so clearly directed by an artist. Despite some of the negative comments that critics have given the film, it is hard to find fault. Check out the trailer, but also, if you have a chance to see it in the cinema, go!

The Ticket Taker - An Update

2011-08-26T19:07:00.001+01:00

I've recently been updating a few of the big issues within my last short "The Ticket Taker." And today, I'm happy to show the updated version. There are still a lot of issues and some I cannot fix without going back a long way in the process, but hopefully I've improved on the walk cycles somewhat and adjusted a few other problems.

In addition to completely reworking the walk cycle, I've added further shots, adjusted camera moves and altered some shaders. There is also improved title cards and a few other tweaks to animation. Due to other commitments on other projects I won't have much time to do anymore on this. If I do I know what needs work the most. Below are also the turnarounds of my two characters. I've posted them before, but I thought a final post for the project was needed.

This weekend I'm rendering a few other bits as well as working on the group project, so check back to see some updates :)

Back to Work

2011-08-25T01:46:00.000+01:00

It's been a long summer and I've not posted for a long, long time but now I'm back and have a few things to show. I spent the first half of my summer trying to distance myself from CG as the second year took its toll and I felt I needed to completely get away from it. But after a month or so I found myself ready to return and get back to work. First off, I'd like to show my first real steps into Zbrush. I've used the program before to briefly get to grips with sculpting but this time I tried to start from the beginning. This head sculpt was done in a night and has helped me get to grip with a lot of the basic features. A lot of the work is really done with just a few brushes but, with the addition of alphas and a few other tools it really takes on a new level of quality.

Here is a breakdown of the sculpt. The topology at this stage is not important as it is for sculpting purposes. However, in the new few weeks I'll be concentrating on how I can use Zbrush within the production pipeline.

I'll also be looking at how Zbrush can be used as a presentational tool. Often, within industry it is used as a way of sculpting out and presenting ideas, and so this will be an important area to explore.

I've been working on a few other things, including preparation for next years minor project but currently I cannot reveal too many details. In addition I've been trying to improve on my Ticket Taker animation, which has been challenge. I really didn't want to go back to the project as it had a lot of problems, but I'm trying my best to resolve what I can. The biggest issues I'm having seem to be coming errors I made that can't be changed. There is an endless list of things that need to reworking but I'm just trying to do the bes tI can with the time available, Below is the reworked walk cycle, it's still a bit robotic and not as fluid as I'd like but I can't seem to solve these issues. The final update will be on the blog later this week.

High Res Character Tutorials

2011-06-01T03:24:00.000+01:00

The more characters I model the better, working with high res realistic characters is exactly what I need for the future projects and ideas. Over the summer I'll be working on character design and zbrush so this is great practice. In particular I wish to study topology and modelling techniques. It took some time, and areas such as the ear were a bit of a nightmare but with further reading and practice hopefully I can refine character modelling over the summer.

The Head

The Body

Keep an eye out for more character modelling in the near future.

Match Moving Tutorials

2011-06-01T03:15:00.000+01:00

The match moving tutorials through up a few problems but with some work I've managed to get them all finished.The biggest issues seemed to come from Maya itself.

Static Match

The first tutorial was a static match, which took a lot of time to model but worked great when finished. The image belows shows the final composite render of the scene.

Below are a few screenshots of the scene within Maya after all the objects were modelled and render layers set up.

Auto Tracking in Matchmover

This tutorial is were things started to go wrong. The auto track went correctly, but when I exported it into Maya the tracking points seemed to have messed up some how. I managed to get the tracking to work using various points possible, but the final effect isn't perfect without a correct scene. I'm still to identify what went wrong within the software.

The screenshot below shows where the tracking points exported to Maya incorrectly.

Target Tracking in Matchmover

The target tracking within Matchmover worked correctly and when exported to Maya all went well. This outcome therefore is more successful.

This technique I actually preferred, as it involved some input from the user. As you can see below, you select which points you wish to track and then adjust accordingly.

Masked Auto Track

The final tutorial used auto tracking combined with masking the footage in order to contain it. This was fairly simple, but again, when exported to Maya 2011 the tracking points became a bit of a mess. Nonetheless, I managed to work around it and the outcome seemed to be successful.

The screenshot below demonstrates the tracked footage with the applied mask using Autodesk Matchmover.

I'll definitely be using matchmover in the future so keep an eye out for similar work over the summer. If anyone has any advice on what went wrong with the tracking points I'd appreciate any help.

Dynamics Tutorials

2011-06-01T02:23:00.001+01:00

I've been pretty busy with work experience work and so it has been difficult to do the tutorials on a weekly basis. However, over the last couple of days I've managed to complete everything and within this post is a video demonstrating all of the dynamics tutorials. These will definitely be useful in the future, with the introduction to nCloth and further examples of collisions and soft bodies.

Work Placement Week 5 and 6

2011-05-22T18:33:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last two weeks but it has been a busy time working on two projects that are coming to fruition in the coming days. Both are pushing me in new directions and require me to learn new plugins and software. I can't show any of this work just yet but I'll be showing some on Thursday during the presentation. It has been going really well so far and I've been enjoying the fast pace of deadlines. It has also been great to work with new software and ideas that I would never work on during my own projects.So keep an eye out, more work will be coming soon.

I'll be posting some details about Butch Auntie when this deadline is complete...but until then here is a video from Glastonbury showing some of the VJ work they create.

Work Placement - Week 4

2011-05-08T21:30:00.000+01:00

It is the end of another week and work has been going really well as a few projects have come to fruition all at once. It is also a time when I am now able to show a glimpse of some work the work I have completed in the last few days. I've been using After Effects for a variety of short animated pieces as well as editing video for music events. I'm not sure if I can name them but today I got word from Pete that last night a video that I edited was played on stage in front of 4000 Dutch music lovers. I've been in good contact with the company and on Friday night Pete emailed me video footage of an event he was currently working at, which showed my own work projected on to walls. This is a really exciting time as I get to see work that I have been part of projected at some amazing events.

So here is a little bit of work I've completed this week. This particular event was at a posh London photographers and was to follow the theme of 1920's New York. The theme was based on the Cotton Club and had to be projected onto walls whilst the party goers ate and mingled. It was crucial that the tone and tempo of this project was correct, it couldn't be too distracting or kinetic, but instead had to be atmospheric and subtle. The first concepts I worked on were based on photographic elements, but I soon realised that it would be much more effective to simply suggest the luxurious style of the event. Apologies for the youtube upload, but I can't afford vimeo plus just yet. (The music was not part of the event.)

It may seem quite simple, but due to the tone of the event I knew this would be the best option. This project was set up on Friday and the footage that I've seen from it looks great. I recieved great feedback from Pete who said that the subtle movements kept the animation alive without it becoming overwhelming for those on the floor.

I was working on multiple projects at this point and so I've learnt a lot about how to manage time and work correctly. I'll hopefully post the other projects up soon, these concern themselves more with 3d work and video editing. I also received word this week about a very exciting project that I will be working on soon, again I cannot say too much, but it is for a pretty big client and will involve some impressive dynamic and fluid effects.

Mary and Max (2010)
In my spare time I've been trying to watch some of the films that I will discuss within my dissertation and this week managed to see Mary and Max. Alan mentioned this film to me a while ago and I remember hearing great things about it. It definitely did not disappoint. This amazing little animated feature tells the story of an Australian girl named Mary, and an elderly American named Max. They both are lonely and through strange circumstances become pen pals. I won't discuss the narrative too much as it is a real charm to watch. It is enthused by witty humour and charming characters who one can't help but fall in love with, and at its heart, there is a real emotional tone that will affect even the most hardened viewer. I really don't want to say too much, but this stunning claymation is a must watch, a perfect symphony of every emotion.

"Babies are laid by Catholic nuns, if you're an atheist, they are laid by dirty lonely prostitutes."

-Max

Work Experience - Week 4

2011-05-04T23:09:00.000+01:00

The Framing Practice essay is now out the way but there is still lots to do at Butch Auntie. It has been difficult to blog when there is little that I can show, but I will post the work as soon as possible, hopefully this weekend. The real fun of work experience thus far is that I've been getting to work on all variety of projects, from video editing for The Kleptones tracks to 2d animation in After Effects and 3d animation in Maya. I've also been in constant discussion with Pete about each project and this quick feedback is great in helping projects advance quickly. We have further deadlines in the coming days and so this may allow me to post work.

In other news, I took some time out on Sunday to watch an animated feature titled The Secret of Kells. This was partly as research for my dissertation but also as a film I've been wanting to see for a while. I started off watching with trepidation, but I was instantly struck by the stunning design of the piece. The magical narrative could have quite easily turned into something rather childish, but instead the film depicts a dark and disturbing world, despite it's aesthetic. Definitely give the film a watch, I think it will surprise a lot of people.

Work Placement - Week 3

2011-05-01T22:51:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of updates but it has been a busy week and with deadlines this week I've been working on an array of things all at once. I'm currently finishing my research and framing practice essay which has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of my dissertation and I'm actually looking forward to really getting stuck in to these subjects in more detail. Work has also been moving along well with my work placement and I've had constant communications with Pete over the various projects. These range from After Effects animation to video editing and this week will see some of these come to fruition. It has been a task to juggle work with university work but after this essay deadline a huge weight will be lifted from my shoulders and I will be able to concentrate fully on my work. As I promised previously, I will post work as soon as is possible, so keep an eye out.

Work Placement - Week 2

2011-04-24T18:38:00.002+01:00

It's been a busy week for everyone involved as we have worked towards a deadline for a client. I've been working on a variety of things from Maya Dynamics to more 2d based animation in After Effects and it all seems to be going very well. I've had positive feedback so far and the discussion between myself and Pete is really helpful in improving my work. I still can't post the work but I will be able to do soon I believe and I'll be working on a variety of different things very soon. The future is looking positive and I'm trying my best to learn new things everyday.

This week I've also got to complete my synopsis essay and work on some Maya tutorials so it will be a busy week, but anything to avoid the royal wedding is always a plus. On a side note I've been thinking more about what I want to achieve this summer and I definitely want to move into Zbrush in style. The plan at the moment is to model and sculpt a character which I will discuss in more detail soon. Keep posted :)

I saw this video earlier today and it demonstrates how simple and effective After Effects work can be quite stunning.

Oil'd from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

Also, I couldn't help but post a bit of The Shins to go with the rather lovely weather.

The Shins "Phantom Limb" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Work Placement - Week 1

2011-04-18T01:44:00.000+01:00

It's been a good first week at Butch Auntie and the work is going well. I've completed various pieces and submitted them with good feedback. In the coming week I will working on new concepts for the same project. Tomorrow I'm delving further into 3d work that will be used in conjunction with After Effects. This quick turnover of work is really interesting as it is somewhat different from university, one has to come up with ideas and concepts really quickly and then implement these successful in a few days. It has definitely helped me learn a lot very quickly, my After Effects skills have improved drastically in one week and I'm now looking into working further with this software over the summer. I've also been working on another project which is another change from university. In the professional world artists have to work quickly on a variety of projects and you need to learn to adapt to these situations well. I still can't post work at the moment as the client deadlines are still in place and it is important that they are the first to see it but I will post them as soon as possible.

I've also been researching ideas for summer work, I want to use this summer as a time to really improve my technical skills and look into areas that I haven't had time to explore. The plan is to model a character in Zbrush and improve my character design style and skills. I feel like my drawing skills need a lot of work and I've not worked on it for a long time so in the coming weeks I'll try and post up any doodles or sketches that I'm working on.

To make up for the lack of work posted, here is a look at the Maya 2012 Viewport 2.0 tool. This looks interesting, but with all the problems that 2011 had I'm still a bit skeptical.

There also seems to be some interesting additions in the way of procedural textures.

Work Placement - Day 3

2011-04-14T02:34:00.001+01:00

It has been a busy day trying to finish work for an initial deadline but since the beginning of the week my knowledge and understanding After Effects has improved hugely. What has been most exciting has been the short time we have had to produce work. It really makes one focus on what needs to be done and you have to work efficiently to get ideas produced on time and to a high standard. This quick turnaround of work means that I've learnt a lot in a short space of time and I feel a lot more confident with the software, which hopefully will help produce better work and more interesting compositions. The initial work I've produced fuses some 3d elements animated in Maya that then get combined with an array of 2d assets in After Effects. I kept close to working with these 2d assets as I felt it would push my understanding of After Effects further, but now that I'm more familiar with the software I feel I can integrate 3d more effectively. What is also really great about the work is that it is unlike anything I've worked on before, this pushes me away from areas that I'm familiar with which can only be a good thing. The work that I've seen from some of the other people on the project is really incredible and I should receive some feedback tomorrow which will help me pinpoint where my biggest problems are.

I also plan on re-designing my blog, I'd like to get away from them current look and create something that represents me as a brand. This will evolve over time but will come from the work and concepts that represent my style best.

Work Placement

2011-04-11T23:50:00.002+01:00

Today I got a lot of info about the work needed this week for my work placement and it is all really exciting to produce work that is out of my comfort zone. It will push me down new routes and strengthen my after effects skills which is a software that I really want to become more familiar with. I've currently got 4 concepts for some work that I will be completing tomorrow and it will be exciting taking these ideas and forming them in after effects. I can't show any work just yet but in the coming days I should be able to post a few bits.

Maya Dynamics

2011-04-10T17:46:00.001+01:00

And finally, the last of this units dynamics tutorials. This week looking into the use of Goals and how this can be used to control particular flow.

With this unit complete, I now go forward into work experience which is really exciting. I will be working on some really great stuff and going into areas that take me away from my comfort zone which is always good. I'll post more on this tomorrow with some examples of work.

Maya Tutorials

2011-04-10T17:42:00.000+01:00

The final set of tutorials sees the end of this unit and it has been a stressful but incredibly rewarding 10 weeks. This week we looked into further mental ray techniques, from HDR lighting to caustics. First we were introduced to mental ray materials, specifically the mia_material_x which provides some incredible results by just using the preset material options. The render below shows the variety of materials that can be possible from this.

The next tutorials looked into caustics and how when combined with final gather a realistic lighting effect can be achieved. The can be seen with the glow that is produced in the shadow of the glass.

The use of Physical Sun and Sky within mental ray can be extremely useful but without correct adjustment it often looks cheap and easy. This technique demonstrates how a portal light can be created when using Physical Sun and Sky in an interior scene.

Further tutorials on the physical sun and sky settings demonstrate how the array of settings can impact the final render. The first two demonstrate the sun disc size, followed by the adjustment of haze. The render shown below this demonstrates the red blue shift and finally the adjustment of saturation.

Adjustments to shadow softness can also be made. The initial render is shown below, along with the shadow softness at 2 with samples at 64.

Finally we were introduced to HDR lighting and as you can see from the images below the results are incredible with a much more realistic affect in tone and colour. The gamma offset must be adjusted in each case to find a suitable luminosity. These renders are created from 3 different HDR maps.

Suburb HDR - Final Render and Adjustments

Meadow HDR - Final Render and Adjustments

Airbase HDR - Final Render and Adjustments

Initial Scene Render

The Ticket Taker is Complete

2011-04-08T08:14:00.000+01:00

It has been a long and tough ten weeks but it was all worth it and yesterday's crit was really exciting to see such a broad range of work. There were times in the project when I thought it would be impossible to finish but somehow I made it and I'm really happy with the final animation. There is a lot that I'd love to change and problems with animation etc but time constraints made this difficult. However, despite the problems I feel it works well as a piece of film and I'm glad I spent a lot of time editing to make sure that it had impact. You can view the final animation below...

As with every project I've learnt a lot, but what I've found most valuable is just how much confidence it has given me for next year. I know there are problems with the animation, but I'm really happy with what I produced considering it was only 10 weeks with limited skill in certain areas. I feel confident now that next year I can create work that is far improved and technically superior in the 15 week projects that we have. The two demo reel shots can be viewed below, but these will be improved when I have some free time.

I also plan to redesign my blog and brand myself in a more professional and personal manner. Comments on how I can do this would be helpful as I'm currently struggling to find something that is typical of my work. The art book and technical paper can also be seen below.

The Art of the Ticket Taker

The_Ticket_Taker_Art_Book

The Technical Paper - Character Creation

The_Ticket_Taker_Technical_Paper

Comments and crits on my work are always welcome.

DVD Art and Update

2011-04-05T18:21:00.000+01:00

It has been a stressful week but as the project nears it's end I've been trying to get all the necessary extras completed. Maya is slowly working its way through the rendering process and I'm hoping it will all be finished by tomorrow morning ready for the final edit. However, before I continue on with printing I would like so thoughts on which box art is best for my DVD. I want to keep it simple but interesting, without giving away too much.

I think the second design works best, it keeps the simple design that I intended whilst still conveying something about the animation itself. Comments welcome :)

A Quick Update

2011-03-30T00:44:00.000+01:00

I was meaning to post this the other day but work has been moving so fast that I completely forgot. Currently I'm putting together scenes and animating everything ready to render. It is starting to look up and things are getting better but there is still a long way to go. Today I spent my time getting the lighting correct which is always an incredible but difficult process. The scenes come to life at this point and one gets an idea of what the final animation will look like. Anyway, here is a playblast of the female's walk cycle. It requires some smoothing but hopefully conveys her depressed emotive state as she is turned away from the ark.

I won't post all my textures just yet as there are a lot of them but here is a glimpse of some of them., including part of the ark. The process of texturing every object in my world took a lot of time and the real difficulty is adding all the grime and dirt in order to make them believable. Despite the time it took from me, it was a process I really enjoyed and in the future something I would love to develop and take on towards a career path along with character modelling.

More to come in the coming days as I move closer to rendering.

Character Turnarounds

2011-03-27T12:38:00.000+01:00

Things are starting to move closer and closer to completion and I'm happy to say that my characters are both fully textured and in the process of animation. This week I've been modelling and texturing the scene ready to animate and render, but the last 3 days I've been putting a lot of work into getting my characters finalised. Below are the turnarounds for both characters.

The Lonely Girl

The Ticket Taker

Later I will post each map up individually to help demonstrate the detail but below are the diffuse maps used on each character.

These final two weeks are going to be tough but it is an exciting time as everything begins to come together. I've also been working on walk cycles which will be posted later and in the next few days some scenes will be rendered hopefully. What has excited me most about this project is that I feel more and more like this is the perfect career for me. Despite all the stress and time worries the process is exciting and after the Double Negative lecture, I feel more passionate about improving than ever before. I'm happy with both characters considering time and personal skill, and in the future I want to push style and design further than I have previously. Comments and criticism very welcome.

Dynamics Tutorials

2011-03-27T12:17:00.002+01:00

The final part of this weeks tutorials continued with particle instances and introduced animation cycles into the equation. This can be used to create animation for groups of objects in a random manor. The video below shows how these techniques can be used.

Maya Tutorials

2011-03-27T12:13:00.000+01:00

This week we covered a lot of areas in the maya tutorials, looking into displacement maps, final gather and global illumination. There was a lot to take in but with continued used of these techniques I'm sure they will become more familiar.

Final Gather

The final gather tutorials demonstrate how final gather rays are shot into the scene dependant on the camera placement. This technique therefore moves closer towards realistic lighting effects and reflects temperature and outside lighting well. In order to diagnose how the light hits the scene the diagnostics feature can be used as seen below.

With some adjustments to the default settings the render can be refined and perfected, this can be seen in the images below.

Global Illumination

In many ways, Global Illumination is a step up as it calculates light by using more realistic methods. Just as the real world does, Global Illumination uses photons to calculate the light. These photons flood the scene and bounce from object to object until they decay. Due to this, they can inherit colour from object to object and result in a far more realistic effect. This technique requires more refinement but as you can see from the images below the lighting follows more natural and realistic methods.

Displacement Maps

The final set of tutorials examined displacement maps and how they can be used in various circumstances to achieve an alternative to other methods such as bump mapping. This technique finds a mid grey value and accordingly raises and lowers the surface around it based on the lights and darks in the map. Therefore adjustment in alpha gain and offset is required in order for the final displacement to match the intentions needed for the scene. The images below should demonstrate how these alpha adjustments alter the final displacement.

This technique can be applied to various situations, the images below demonstrate how it can be used for SubD models, non SubD models and nurbs surfaces.

All of these tutorials require a lot of adjustment but with continued use I'm sure they will become easier and easier.

Props and Zbrush

2011-03-22T12:03:00.000Z

Yesterday I tried to finish all the props ready for the environment, I think I've done all I planned to do and so later today I'll start setting up the scene ready to animate on and add the textures. However, last night I decided to quickly try out Zbrush. I've never used the software before and it's pretty difficult getting used to the navigation and interface but after half an hour I feel like this is definitely a software I want to use further in the future. Here are some shots of my ticket taker character after about 30 minutes messing around.

It took time to get used to what the tools do and so half of his face was a test for each brush, therefore the final image is half ticket taker, half grindhouse infected monster. Nevertheless, it was good to get away from Maya for just a bit and over the summer I'll be using Zbrush a lot more. Here are some of the props for the final scene.

All the uv's are set up for texturing apart from the ark, and the pier is still in the process of being put together. Hopefully tonight I can set the scene up and start the texturing process. I will also be animating walk cycles tomorrow now that my ticket taker has his ticket machine. Crits and comments welcome.

Project Update

2011-03-20T16:21:00.000Z

It has been a week of Maya glitches and blendshape issues but all seems to be fixed and at last the characters are ready to animate. The biggest problem came from the facial animation when the blendshapes caused movement in the head. After talking to Alan the initial plan was to create a corrective blendshape that prevented the issue but this caused further problems and so the only option was to find and solve the real issue. After a lot of work I realised that the head movement was due to skinning problems and therefore reskinning the head was necessary. This took up a lot of time but the final animation requires a lot of close up facial animation and so was vital that this worked great.

The Lonely Girl

The girl needs to evoke a lot of emotion and so her facial animation need to be easy to use and effective. The clay renders below demonstrate how the final blendshapes can be used in conjunction with character pose to evoke the emotion needed in the scene. I feel like I've spent a long time on technical issues, but with everything finally figured out animation will be far easier without rig problems. These images attempt to convey the girl's emotion as she first approaches the ticket taker and he reaches for his gun.

In order to create facial animation that is effective a number of blendshapes are required. The images below show the blendshapes created for this character, when combined further possibilities are available.

The Ticket Taker

The male character is also complete and the same blendshape issue required a fix. I still need to add his ticket machine but he is ready for animation and I've fixed a few other issues to make his movements more believable. The clay renders of this character were more of a test of his possible emotions but hopefully convey his state when the girl approaches and he reaches for his gun.

His character also has a variety of blendshapes, some of these can be seen below.

I have also been working on modelling the environment, this still needs a lot of work but this block in test demonstrate how the final scene will be set up.

This week I will be completing the scene and texturing, as well as animating and setting up shots ready for render. Now that the technical aspects are completed and working, the project should start to take shape and things will be moving quickly this coming week as I prepare to get everything completed for rendering.

Maya Dynamics

2011-03-20T15:34:00.000Z

Continued tutorials using Maya dynamics allow us to explore further possibilities within Maya instances. By using a few MEL expressions it is possible to create more random and effective results, altering scale, rotation and aim. Using this technique allows for truly random population of objects or animation.

Motion Blur and Depth of Field

2011-03-20T15:26:00.000Z

Continued tutorials in mental ray and rendering demonstrate how motion blur and depth of field can be achieved. This techniques can produce exciting results but with this comes an increase in render time.

Motion Blur

The motion blur effect demonstrated below was achieved using the 2d option in maya software rendering. This is calculated using the motion in a single axis or direction. It provides some quick and effective results but for more advanced movements other options are needed.

The next set of images demonstrates motion blur using maya software and the 3d setting available. This works effectively without much alteration needed. When this effect is then required using mental ray a few alterations are needed to prevent the motion from creating steps.

Depth of Field

This effect is seen in photography and film constantly, it can provide a soft focus for shots but as ever, render time is increased. The images below demonstrate how this can be achieved in both maya software and mental ray rendering

A more artistic use of this method is commonly known as "Bokeh" which breaks the focus of the image into more defined shapes. This can be achieved using the the lens available in mental ray, as seen in the images below. The final image is effective however, it requires more testing in order to achieve the intended result.

Maya Dynamics - Particle Instances

2011-03-20T15:07:00.000Z

By using the particle instancer tool in maya it is possible to attach geometry to emitting particles. This obviously allows for a great many effects to be achieved, in this tutorial crowd population demonstrates an effective way of quickly populating a scene with random results.

There are clearly an endless list of possibilities with this technique.

Mental Ray Optimisation

2011-03-20T14:58:00.001Z

From Maya Software to Mental Ray

This series of tutorials deals with the inner workings of mental ray and how it can be optimised to decrease render time whilst still retaining a similar quality. Before delving into this optimisation however we first studied how mental ray can be used to match software rendering. This simple technique allows mental ray to take the settings from a maya software render and apply them in order to match the render. As you can see from the renders below, with some minor tweaks the results work incredibly well.

Mental Ray Optimisation

This part of the tutorial was the most important as it examines how mental ray can be optimised to reduce render time. By altering the BSP depth and size the render time of a scene can be reduced greatly whilst still retaining a similar quality. This render time can also be reduced by altering the sampling levels and adjusting raytracing settings. The BSP settings can be rendered in diagnostics to help examine the memory used and then adjust accordingly. The images below demonstrate this, levels of green and blue represent areas of low memory use, whilst red sections highlight intense memory use.

So after a few test renders and adjust the BSP and sampling level the render time can be reduced greatly. In this case the original 49 second render is now rendered at 40 seconds. This optimisation takes little time and can save a huge amount of time in the long run. As you can see from the initial render and final render, the quality has stayed largely the same.

The Ticket Taker Rig

2011-03-14T01:43:00.001Z

The ticket taker has now also been rigged and things are starting to move along well. The next stage is creating the facial rig, this includes creating the eye blink and adding the mouth, as well as creating a vast array of blendshapes so that these characters start to emote.

This week will also allow me to begin texturing. A process that will start to add history and life to both characters. Keep an eye out for some exciting updates.

Character Rigging and Skinning

2011-03-13T21:05:00.000Z

The last few days I've been skinning and rigging and so far it seems to be going pretty well without any major problems. The skinning process is something that takes time but has to be done and so here are some videos of each character in after this stage.

The female character is rigged and ready for animation apart from her face which will be completed tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow the male character will also be at that stage as I'm planning to finish his rig later tonight. The process of rigging is becoming easier every time and in the future I will be looking to create more advanced and complex rigs. However, here are some shots of the finished rig for the female.

Once these rigs are fully completed I can spend this week creating my scenes and the world of my animation will start to come to life. More to come very soon.

Character UV's

2011-03-09T04:39:00.000Z

I revisited both characters and made some subtle but important changes. The female character has changed most as previously she had a lot of issues that needed fixing. I've fleshed out her face some more, modelled the clothing with more detail and reduced her breast size. The breast size was an important change as it not only emphasises the her weight but also means she does not suffer from the poorly designed big breasted CG female that is so often seen in every show real.

The Female

The Ticket Taker

So tomorrow I start setting up the skeleton, then skinning and rigging. Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Character Updates

2011-03-06T23:44:00.000Z

It is the mid point in the project and from here on in I really need to starting pushing myself to get things done. The characters are almost finished and hopefully with some more details and adjustments they will be ready to rig and UV.

The Girl

The Ticket Taker

The plan from here on out is to really start working flat out to get everything done and looking good. Tonight I'm going to continue adding detail and tweaking until these really stand out. This week, I will move on to skinning, rigging and completing the UV's. There is a lot to do and not a lot of time but I'm ready to get it done, and so hopefully this project will move forward successfully and rapidly.

Head Model Update

2011-03-03T06:19:00.000Z

The head models for both my characters are now pretty close to completion. It has taken a lot of tweaking to get them looking right but I think they are a big improvement on my previous updates.

The Approaching Female:

The Ticket Taker:

Tomorrow I'll post some updates on how the body models are going, once the bodies are completed I will return to these for the final tweaks. Comments and advice on improvement is very welcome, they need a bit more work before they are completely finished.

QUESTIONS:

- The characters are more realistic than previous characters, should I therefore model their hands with four fingers? Or stay with the three finger cartoon look?

- Also I could do with some advice on the eyes. Should I model them using nurbs or use a poly technique and apply a realistic eye texture

Talking Donkeys and our Connection with Realitiy

2011-03-01T07:21:00.001Z

After today's "Framing Practice" seminar my ideas for the upcoming synopsis and dissertation are starting to evolve. Last year I wrote an essay on animated documentary (http://jordanbuckner.blogspot.com/2010/04/animated-documentary.html) which was not only the most interesting to me but also I believe my most successful. Following on from this idea, today I discussed the ideas I have for my dissertation and I feel a lot more confident about my chosen subject. I'd like to use the opportunity to explore animation and it's effect, in particular, why is animation not used as an artistic medium directed at adults? Feature animations are generally targeted at children and real adult animation tend to be in the form of shorts. From this we discussed an array of ideas and came to the conclusion that maybe adults rely more on reality. This can be seen in Waltz with Bashir, a film of beautiful animation that tells a dark story of the Lebanese conflict. The final part of the film cuts to real footage of the crisis and emphasises the nature of the war and it's truly devastating effect. Could it therefore be said, that animation connects best with an adult audience when it has a connection to reality.

We discussed the ideas of culture and it's effects on animation. Japanese animation often seems to cross the boundary and is successful with both an adult and youth audience, whereas Hollywood animation tends to target the broad child audience. I'll be looking into commercial influence, cultural influence and artist aspects that seem to affect the genre so greatly. Currently there are a ton of questions to answers and an array of areas to research but I feel happy that I have finally connected with a theme and the researching has begun.

Propoganda and Graffiti

2011-03-01T06:47:00.000Z

When Phil and I last discussed the animation we talked about how the ark can be used as a way of storytelling. The idea was to cover it in posters, graffiti and artwork that tells a story about the world and situation. The ark would be an object of hate, it is essentially an escape for the rich and represents a capitalist society that only serves to protect the wealthy.

I'll be posting more on this subject when I get some more time but a big part of the discussion was using the image of Mari Antoinette. Antoinette became a figure of hate during the French revolution and has stood to represent the immoral ideals of the rich and the separation of class. More info soon.

Character Updates

2011-03-01T06:25:00.000Z

As I continue to model the heads of my characters I'm still currently developing the costume for each. They need to tell a story and demonstrate a history with the use of layers, textures and forms. This quick character sheet simply explores some of the possible options for the ticket taker. He has to be militarized and demonstrate that he has been through a lot.

The final drawings of both characters are still work in progress but will be completed in the next few days ready to model the bodies. They will also be accompanied with some supporting artwork that will attempt to capture the mood of each character.

The latest version of the animatic is available here...

http://jordanbuckner.blogspot.com/2011/02/animatic-narrative-changes.html

This version has a new narrative form and hopefully is moving further towards something with more power and emotion. Advice and comments most welcome.

Transcription Update

2011-03-01T06:10:00.000Z

Today has been another day of modelling and the female head is moving forward quite well. Both heads are now pretty much set to up with correct geometry and so tomorrow I'll be refining them until they really start to come alive along with modelling some of the details needed.

The plan is to have the characters completely modelled by the week's end and then begin the rigging process this weekend. This stage of character modelling is always rather slow as it takes a lot of work to get them really start to look right.

A Quick Update

2011-02-27T16:09:00.000Z

The ticket taker character is starting to take shape but still has a long way to go. The head model is all set out with correct topology but needs a lot of refining and tweaking until it looks right. Currently, it is stuck at the strange alien stage where it doesn't quite look human. But with continued work this should change and after a break from the model I should be able to look at it with fresh eyes.

QUESTION: The problem I'm really concerned about at the moment is that when the head is smoothed it takes on that horrible CG character appearance where everything looses detail and shape. What is the best way to give the character some quality through it's shape and form. I want to keep the square quality of the jaw and forehead. Should I add geometry to these areas and work it into the shape or is there a better solution?

Today I'm going to be modelling the female head as I feel a break from this model will do it some good. Then I'll return to this and keep refining and tweaking until it starts to come to life. Lots to do but I'm glad things are starting to move forward. Keep an eye out for some more character artwork in the near future.

Character Updates

2011-02-25T19:58:00.001Z

Tonight I'm going to be working on the head models for my characters. They will develop more during this stage but I really want to get the geometry for the heads started so that I don't fall behind. I'll also be sketching out more ideas on the full form of the characters as these need some more thought. Here are some more developed sketches for my two characters.

Due to the time constraints of the project I plan to continue preproduction artwork into the production stage. There are areas that I would like to develop through drawings, such as the pier, before I continue on to modelling. I have been happy with certain areas of my own work but currently I've been finding a lot of fault in my drawing skills. My work so far doesn't seem to carry the excitement or interest that I want it to so I will be trying to improve presentation and style over the next 6 months.

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics

2011-02-25T05:26:00.000Z

Finally, the dynamics tutorials for this week. This looked into a variety of areas, from creating rain from particles to the introduction of Rigid and Soft Bodies in Maya. The video below shows the final renders...

I'll be using the particle effect to create rain in my own animation and so more experiments with this technique will be posted in the coming weeks.

Maya Tutorials - Normal Maps

2011-02-25T05:18:00.001Z

As part of our latest tutorials, we were introduced to normal maps. This was new territory for me and showed us some interesting techniques to achieve best effects with minimal render time. The first tutorial demonstrated how normal maps can be generated from high res models. They can then be applied to a simple plane to give the illusion of detail.

The next exercise demonstrated how photographed textures can be converted into normal maps using an nvidia plug in. This plug in can be found at http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html. Using this simple texture it is clear how a normal map can increase the effectiveness with relatively easy application. The image below shows the normal map applied on the left.

We then used this technique within a scene, by simply applying normal maps to certain aspects of the scene a noticeable difference is visible. The image below shows this, with the left side of the picture demonstrating how normal maps affect the final render.

Below are some examples of the normal maps used within the scene. The Photoshop plug in works extremely well and it is fairly easy to preview the map whilst altering settings.

Maya Tutorials - UV Mapping

2011-02-25T03:43:00.000Z

Another weeks tutorials completed and this one didn't take too much time. Laying out UV's is becoming easier every time I do it and doesn't take much time at all. I'll be modelling my characters from tomorrow, so more UV layout is ahead of me.

The Animatic - Narrative Changes

2011-02-23T06:21:00.000Z

After my tutorial today I've been feeling a lot more confident about the actually content of my animation. Time is still a big worry but this has been a problem for everyone on all projects. The content however, has really evolved and hopefully is moving towards a piece that is both more engaging and more logical. We discussed the world in detail and this brought up the fact that if it was the last ark, then the ticket taker would have to be militarized. After realising this, the narrative evolved into something that has more impact and emotion. The pier is now more of a prison entrance, covered in barbed-wire and defences, whilst the ticket taker himself carries a gun and looks more like military personnel. The ending has also been altered drastically, instead of them taking a boat to watch the arks leave, this act all takes place on the pier. As they walk away, the ark is released from it's dock and the motion slows and the ark detaches and moves away. Here is an updated version of the animatic, it still needs a lot of refining but it should highlight the new narrative structure.

The ark will be a key to telling part of the narrative, covered in graffiti and metaphorical images it will be used to show the history of the world in an instant. Phil highlighted a lot of areas that need to be used effectively to help drive the narrative. I'll be posting more on these specific areas in the near future. Comments and criticism welcome.

The Ticket Taker Character Update

2011-02-23T06:07:00.000Z

I've been trying to develop the ticket taker character and this latest page shows a more resolved form. I plan to push the outfit of the character a lot further after today's discussion with Phil, he needs to look really worn down and militarized.

I will hopefully be moving forward with this character as soon as possible and begin modelling the head soon. More character updates to come very soon.

The Golden Gates Begin

2011-02-23T06:02:00.000Z

Currently, I'm working on multiple areas at the same time. Production has essentially started but it won't really start to kick off until I start working on the characters. However, for now here is some progress on the golden gate bridge model. It is still very much in the early stages of blocking out but hopefully with continued work I can start to add the dystopian destruction that it requires.

I also spent some time experimenting with the ocean shader which will become important. My worry is render time, ocean shaders and fog make render times rather lengthy so I'll have to try and work out the best way to cut this down. These renders don't look great but once I've finished the model I can spend some time playing with style and compositing.

The Animatic

2011-02-22T04:03:00.000Z

I've been working on a few things tonight but one thing that is still an ongoing process is the editing and shot structure of my animatic. This is the latest version, but it is by no means complete, there a some big areas that I feel I need to rework but this will be discussed in my tutorial tomorrow.

The more I think about it the more I think I should cut the shots of the two on the small boat. These just seem to take up much needed time and not drive the story. I think maybe this end should then be lengthened as we see the two walk off together and watch the arks sail away.

I've also been working on a few promotional pieces and these two concepts for teaser posters are hopefully going in the right direction.

I've also been working on the model of the golden gate bridge, but currently it's not looking great so I'll post images tomorrow when I've sorted out the issues.

Concept Art - The Ark

2011-02-21T17:15:00.000Z

The final piece from the environmental concepts depicts the ark by the docks. This was really a way of exploring the design of the ark and trying to examine its scale and texture.

Recoloured Version:

The image took a while to get looking correct, it started from a thumbnail image I sketched out quickly and then slowly evolve through constant addition. I may need to revisit the piece in a couple of days as after working on it for so long the errors don't stand out. But for now, here is a run down of the piece...

For a long time I've been following a similar style on my concept art, but after recolouring the image I get the feeling that this tone and style suits the world more. I'll be discussing this tomorrow but I'd like to get some feedback on what style is more appropriate.

Concept Art - The Golden Gates

2011-02-21T17:06:00.000Z

This piece of concept art was started at the same time as the last, but due to a few problems with it I just couldn't get it to a finished stage. I'm not completely happy with this piece but hopefully it conveys the style and look of the animation. The first few shots will have to tell the audience that the world is dying and hopefully by simply showing the Golden Gate bridge in this state, the idea is instantly implied.

These images show the process the painting went through. I was trying to stay with the traditional expressive quality that my previous concept explored but also include something that seemed a little darker.

It isn't a piece that I'm completely happy with and if I get time I'll be revisiting it, but hopefully it conveys the world I want to create. I'm currently working on the model of the Golden Gate bridge which will be brought to life with good texturing and matte painting techniques for the background.

Character Influence

2011-02-21T02:27:00.000Z

It is important that the characters reflect their world and demonstrate their personality. This textured feel is not shown in my sketches but will be brought to life during the texturing process. To give you an idea of what I want to achieve with these characters here are two influence maps showing both female and male characters that share similar ideas.

I feel like the female needs pushing further into her style whilst I want to keep the ticket taker fairly simple but detailed in texture. The images below show just how soft but texture I want the final characters to feel like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/134562681/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snocturnus/4464882607/#/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyshaper/3793013475/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/137793023/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/152601997/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/171134374/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/4876900940/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/2140774724/in/photostream/

The female needs to have a similar feel to her, but she still needs to look frail and beautiful. This won't be an easy task and so I'm trying to focus my effort on this character.

Sketching out Ideas

2011-02-21T01:28:00.001Z

Both characters are slowly moving towards a finalised design but I still need to work a lot on them. The best way to improve is to get opinion from others so here are some of the sketchbook pages that show the character designs in their progression.

These characters will be fully realised in the coming days and completed with concept art ready for modelling. I had planned to be at this stage already but unless my preproduction is right, the production will fail. To make sure I don't loose time I am going to be modelling the bridge and ark first, this simply changes my timetable around so that it will all still be done in time. The two characters that stand out for me are shown in the right column, second row down. These two character outlines give an insight into the height and weight of each. I'll be posting up some digital sketches showing more realised concepts soon.

Improving Attitude and Mindset

2011-02-18T05:57:00.001Z

Today I quickly met with Phil to discuss the animatic and how to get this project really working. Together with insulting his hat (sorry about that Phil) I realised a few key things about my thought process and my work on this project so far. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not thinking enough about film, logic and setup. My animatic thus far has set the tone, but it doesn't emote and this I think comes down to my own failings. I need to really scrutinise everything I do and make sure that it has a true impact on the audience. This is not a bad thing, in fact it's a very good thing. I want to make the best work possible and so the more I develop and learn the better. I've also come to the realisation that my blog is starting to loose the personal touch, my updates are sporadic and normally posts about complete work. I plan to change this. It needs to feel more like a journal than a display of what work I've just finished. So the plan for the next few days?

Well, I'll be spending tomorrow really trying to get my characters working. I need to get behind their thoughts and what the characters represent. Considering this is a character piece, it is vital and not something I want to rush to get off the check list. The suggestions for these characters worried me at first, I think I was fearful of the "hipster" look that seems to haunt our university, but in reality these characters need to have life and a quirky quality to them. They need to feel, emote and evoke, and having a bland character will destroy any chance of this. I think this fear stemmed from my own feelings over fashion and the links I make with vanity. But these characters aren't vain, they are just weathered, strong and surviving. They have to demonstrate that they have survived and have an incredible strength. After all, if the apocalypse was upon us it would be the people with guts and energy that would survive. I've always had the impression that if The Road were ever real, I'd unfortunately represent Charlize Theron's thoughts. This isn't something I'm happy about, but I'm definitely not a Viggo Mortensen. This is probably the reason why I'm useless in any kind of emergency. The survivors in The Road are strong and filled with hope even in the darkest of time. They carry "the fire inside" and it is this quality that my characters need to embody.

I also plan to get my storyboard printed out so that I can try and work the animatic out to it's fullest. This may take some time but the process will be evolving as I start modelling and rigging my characters. The shot structure and editing are going to have a huge effect on the overall power of the film. I also have three pieces of concept art still in development and plan to get these finished in the coming days. Hopefully, if I can work on improving my own problems I will not only move on with confidence but also develop as an artist. After all, what is the point of doing anything if you aren't going to do it to the best of your abilities. I'm feeling positive about moving forward and trying to change how I work and think.

Meanwhile, I was talking with Leo this afternoon before Maya and mentioned this incredible trailer for any video game fans out there...

Never Let Me Go and True Grit

2011-02-18T05:31:00.000Z

Last Friday, I ventured off to the cinema to see the Coen brothers latest True Grit as well as Mark Romanek's adaption of Never Let me Go. Very different films, but both incredible experiences.

True Grit, a re adaption of Charles Portis' novel, tells the story of Mattie Ross, a young girl determined to avenge her fathers death. Starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin it tells a compelling narrative in a very classical way. The Coen brothers have fully embraced the American Western and added their own sense of humour and style. In many ways it is a homage to Westerns and the great American genre, and it becomes clear to see such films as Night of the Hunter in the style and tone. This adds a lot to the films charm, but it remains distinctly Coen, in it's cinematography and off-centre humour. The cast is full of talent and it would be easy to pick out Bridges or Damon on their performances, but the real talent here is the character of Mattie Ross, played by 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld. Her performance is stunning in it's contradictions, a character of fragility that has to exhibit extreme strength. For anyone who is a fan of the Coen brothers, you will not be disappointed.

I was nervous about seeing Never Let Me Go after hearing few positives about it, but was really surprised by it's sheer beauty and incredible power. The narrative explores the lives of three friends as they grow together in a life that has been determined for them. The film has a stark quality that I myself need to create in my new animation, and does not over exaggerate the tragic story. This in a strange way makes it all the more powerful and the director demonstrates a bravery with the camera. Unfortunately, I haven't read the novel so I cannot comment on it's adaption but the choice to explain little of the history worked in its favour. The film simply concerns itself with the three characters, and because of this, the power and weight it carries is hugely affecting. The stand out performance was not a surprise, Andrew Garfield manages to pull out some incredibly emotional scenes within seconds, simply through his subtle style and realistic mannerisms.

Andrew Garfield consistently proves himself as one of the greatest young actors around, for anyone interested in more of his work I highly recommend Boy A, I'm Here and Red Riding: In the Year of our Lord 1974.

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics

2011-02-18T04:51:00.000Z

I also completed today, this weeks dynamics tutorials which really show the possibilities of dynamics. I'll be using some form of dynamics in my own animation but they will be rather subtle and not quite as spectacular as these.

Maya Tutorials - Games Character Modelling

2011-02-18T04:25:00.000Z

Another week of Maya tutorials completed, this one saw the completion of Igor, the games character. It took some time but was fairly simple to complete. Modelling character bodies I find a much easier process than the face obviously, but the more practice the better.

The Docks Concept Art

2011-02-15T21:07:00.000Z

This first piece of concept art explores the dock environment, this is the setting for most of the animation and it has to convey the atmosphere extremely quickly. This piece took a while to form and it all started from a shot from Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant Vertigo.

Here is a quick run down of the painting process...

I used this as a reference and then followed with a digital paint over that allowed me to establish perspective and scale. I also wanted to allow brushstrokes to take their own path, and so working with CS5 new brush presets created more expressive use of paint. I'll probably keep adding to this in the next few days but hopefully it gives a sense of the environment and world I want to create.

The Ticket Taker Animatic

2011-02-15T17:48:00.005Z

After last week's crit there was a lot to do and a lot to change, so I've spent this week re drawing the animatic and creating concept art for the world of the ticket taker. This animatic hopefully has a far more dramatic effect and tells the story in a clear but emotional way. I've tried to keep the camera shots hold and stay motionless in the stark world. I wanted to capture the stillness that can be seen in La Jetee, this really focuses the viewer on the emotion.

I feel there are still a few alterations to make, the final shots need some thought but I feel its a real improvement on my last animatic. The character design in this animatic does the represent the final character design, for example, the female character won't look like E.T.

Maya Tutorials - Modelling for Games Week Two

2011-02-11T04:09:00.000Z

The final tutorial for modelling the head, it took some time but is well worth it. The more practise I get in this area the better. Here are a few screenshots to show the end result...

I promise I'll be posting concept art soon, I've hit a slight bump in the road but this usually happens during the preproduction stage. The best way to get past it is to just keep drawing until things start to work.

Dynamics Week Two

2011-02-11T04:04:00.000Z

Tonight I completed all the Maya tutorials for this week. The dynamics tutorials continue to explore new affects and should be really helpful with my own animation in the transcription project. The important thing about dynamics I feel is to use them wisely and carefully, if used too much they can become a distraction.

Dynamics - Week 2 from Jordan Buckner on Vimeo.

Question for Phil

2011-02-09T17:00:00.000Z

Yesterday you mentioned I should stylise and exaggerate the characters to a certain degree, but I've been struggling and everything just looks too cartoony. Do you have any examples or suggestions of what to look at?

Self Branding

2011-02-08T01:01:00.000Z

Promoting ourselves and our work is an important aspect of the industry and it is vital to present ourselves in a professional and intelligent manner. On Saturday I put together a few ideas for my own brand but currently it all feels a bit too simple and impersonal.

I'll be rethinking everything and discussing it more tomorrow, but I really want to achieve something that is both professional and charming. Today I scanned in all my sketchbook work but the uni scanners just don't seem to work so hopefully I'll get them redone tomorrow and post these updates.

Thumbnail Animatic

2011-02-07T23:06:00.000Z

Here is the very first draft for The Ticket Taker. Apologies for the dodgy drawing and low quality but this stage is all about figuring out ideas and reworking everything until it is fits perfectly. I'll be creating the final frames for the animatic this week during the concept art stage as these two processes help each other develop. It definitely needs some work and the animatic doesn't show the character animation so a lot of the emotive quality is lost but hopefully this is a good point to start from.

If you have any suggestions or ideas on improvement please comment, this is the stage where the more feedback and criticism I get the better.

Initial Narrative Thumbnail Storyboard

2011-02-07T02:39:00.000Z

I've spent the end of this week sketching and trying to resolve my ideas. The characters are taking shape and after some time the narrative seems to be coming together. I won't post my sketches until I've scanned them properly at university tomorrow but for now here is the thumbnail storyboard that I used to work out my narrative.

- The story starts with a shot of a billboard on a pier. It is littered with posters, "The End is Nigh" and "Last Ark to Safety" are clearly visible. Slowly the focus of the shot changes and in the background we notice our ticket taker figure standing by the entrance to the ark.

- We cut to a full shot of him as he stands in the bitter cold weather.

- Then a close up of the ticket taker, he looks forward into the weather and then moves his head up as he examines the huge ark.

- An extreme wide shot then displays the enormous scale of the ark. Within this shot we see a second figure walk into frame.

- We cut to an OTS shot from behind this character as she walks slowly up the pier.

- A close up is shown to explain how tired and scared she is. The extreme close up of her mouth allows us to read the words "Please help" without any sound other than the song.

- Then an extreme close up of the ticket taker who has to say "I'm sorry."

- She walks away as the camera tracks with her, we can see behind her the man looking on worried for her safety.

- A close up of him shows that he is going to board the ark, he looks up at the doorway and then back at the girl.

- The camera cuts back to the tracking shot of the girl, in the background the ticket taker is boarding the ramp to the ark.

- Another close up and we see his thought process.

- The wide shot then shows him running back down the pier after her.

- This is followed by a low shot on the pier, the foreground out of focus as we see the two walk away together. The foreground comes into focus and we discover his ticket machine left on the ground. This highlights the point that he has given up safety to help this poor girl.

- The film fades to black and when it fades out we see a tracking shot through a flooded town . We only see the tops of buildings and lampposts pointing out of the water when a boat comes into shot. The ticket taker and woman sit in the boat moving through the flooded world.

- Shots of the two looking at each other are cut in between, the subtle glances and emotions shown in these stages.

- The boat comes to a flat roof top and the two get out. They stand looking out at the ocean as the arks set sail.

- Close up shots of the two are cut together and in the final moments they grab hands. The film fades to black as the music ends, only the sound of the ocean is now heard.

It still needs a lot of refinement but I want to keep it simple and slow. The pace of the music needs to define the editing and so the shots must be long and emotive whilst still telling the story. Please comment with any ideas or suggestions.

Maya Tutorials - Modelling for Games

2011-02-04T19:31:00.001Z

The last of the tutorials for this week was modelling the head for a games character. After modelling characters for the last project this wasn't too difficult. The real skill however, comes from knowing where to place geometry and how to keep it as low as possible whilst still providing enough detail.

Maya Tutorials: Dyanmics

2011-02-04T19:30:00.002Z

Last night I worked hard to get all the maya tutorials completed and managed to finish everything. With such a short project and so much work it is vital I keep on track of my timetable so tonight I have the opportunity to relax a bit and do some drawing. Here are the renders from the dynamics tutorials.

Untitled from Jordan Buckner on Vimeo.

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

2011-02-02T17:49:00.000Z

My tutorial yesterday went rather well, it was mostly a discussion of ideas and how to move forward with a successful animation. Phil suggested I take a look at the work of Sylvain Chomet who directed a traditional animation titled The Triplets of Belleville. This french animation tells a strange and yet charming story of a boy who longs to be a professional cyclist and ride in the tour de France. He lives with his grandmother and dog who both become his trainer in his adult years he manages to succeed in his dreams. The story takes a twist into the strange and surreal, but throughout manages to keep an incredible sense of charm and passion.

The reason Phil suggested this film was due to the style and character design. The characters have a very unique design, they carry weight and form as though aged by gravity. It is this thin, skeletal form that I need to carry into my own characters. The lead character within the film, Champion really shows the quality of the design. He is constructed from logic and thought, his legs are muscular and emphasised, whilst his body thin and weak. The characters within my own animation need to be thought through in this way, a logic needs to be applied and followed in order for them to reflect the world they live in.

The characters go a long way to the animations success, they have a charming comedy to them whilst also having a well formed structure. The animation is also held up by the beautiful tones and designs of the world they live in. The style of animation is traditional but also feels rather playful and expressive. It isn't perfectly drawn to every detail and this adds to its charm. It feels loved and emotive, this quality is something that is hard to capture but hopefully will be helped by my own character designs.

The film has very little dialogue, the comedy and emotion is all created from the performances and design of the characters. For anyone who wants to see something charming and stunning in design, check this film out. The director has since completed the film The Illusionist which has been on my list of films to see but unfortunately, local cinemas don't show such diverse films. It seems to carry just as much charm...

Ark

2011-02-01T23:11:00.000Z

I've posted this short film before and it still remains one of my favourites. But it seems very apt to post it again now. This film has a style and design that would work well for my own animation, whilst the ark demonstrates the dark future that fits so well with the narrative. My own story needs to be carefully designed so that the characters really shine and show emotion in a world of horror and dread. This however, is still a great influence and source of inspiration...

Ark from Joram Letwory on Vimeo.

Check out more about the film in this article...

http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3634&page=

The film is primarily a study of one character, but the world seems real and expansive. This is created cleverly by the use of animated matte paintings and this technique will not only save me time but enhance the world.

The lighting is sublime and has the colour and style that I wish to capture, but within my own piece I want to instead emphasise my characters. These will be lit to demonstrate their difference from the world, they need to represent all that is good in a dying world of lost hope and the surviving rich.

Lebbeus Woods

2011-02-01T22:41:00.000Z

I studied the work of Lebbeus Woods closely during my foundation year and discovered a world of exquisite drawing and architectural design. His dystopian visions have been hugely influential not only in the architectural industry but in film. Famously he filed a law suit again the production of 12 Monkeys after he claimed the film resembled his work a bit too closely, and you can see why he did so.

His work is incredible in its design and approach, an architect who is willing to embrace a darker future. This really allowed Woods to produce unique and original work. I'd love to capture some of these ideas within my world, the matte paintings I will use have to reflect this atmosphere. The ark itself needs to be designed carefully to describe the world. The ark represents all that is wrong with the world, a place for only the rich that carries them off away from the problem.

Woods is a very interesting architect, he isn't bound by possibilities or commercial viability, but simply concerned with creating spaces and worlds that express and excite. In this way, his work fits perfectly for us animators and film makers. We have the opportunity to build anything, and it allows us to produce environments that are extraordinary and completely engrossing.

The sheer boldness of Woods' work is what seems so inspirational to me. Above all architects he is always the one that I think of first as someone who simply loves to explore new ideas and themes.

J.C. Leyendecker

2011-02-01T21:22:00.001Z

I wanted to post about Leyendecker for a few reasons, not only because his work is sublime and hopefully people will look further into his history, but also because the tone and illustrative quality that he used fits perfectly with my characters and the world they inhabit. Leyendecker was born in 1874 and went on to become one of the preeminent American illustrators of all time. His work has an engrossing visual style his character renders have a stark and brutal form to them.

The forms of each character have a real gravity to them, they seem to describe a weight and age. His use of colour is subdued and very much seems to fit his time, whilst his brush marks seem very exact despite how free and expressive they sometimes appear. I really want my own characters to have a similar gravity and I want to explore the texturing process to emphasise the painterly quality of the my work.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

2011-02-01T21:00:00.000Z

Cormac McCarthy's The Road is a key influence for me during this project. His tale of a dying world and the relationship between father and son struggling to survive is truly heart breaking and typifies both his style and outlook. The Times described the novel as "A work of such terrible beauty that you will struggle to look aways." I actually first came to the work after seeing the film adaptation by John Hilcoat. It was only until recently that I read the book, which holds an enormous power, every emotion is heightened and every detail of a cold grey world described in its beauty. The film itself is a brilliant adaptation, it follows the book almost exactly and the slight changes only seem to make the film stronger.

This work is an inspiration for a number of reasons, the first being the world that it is set in. The planet is dying and most of the population has died with it's demise. The few who fight on have to overcome the horrors that are left, whilst the world offers no food or energy. The film was shot with little CG, most of the devastation on screen is from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The towns have a dark and quiet beauty to them that definitely fits in the world I want to create. The other key reason why this film is so influential is the powerful relationship between father and son. It is this power that I want to capture in my animation, the big problem is creating this impact and connection in the short time I have. The reason why the relationship holds such weight is due to the subtle nature of it. Both the book and film feel very real, it is this honesty that really has effect. The characters do not constantly state their love or express these emotions in overacted actions, but instead show it in the slightest gesture. Check out the trailer below...

The design of the film is not only important because of it's world, but also how each shot is set up. The story isn't really about the dying world, the real story is just about a father and son trying to survive together. This led to a lot of disappointment in America as audiences went to see a film about the apocalypse and instead got a close and personal character study. Most of the film takes place in the foreground of the frame, the world around them is cleverly created as a backdrop. This will be helpful in my own approach, the characters need to be the real animation, whilst the dying world should be implied through clever use of modelling and matte painting.

The character design within the film also becomes important for my own project. Both the ticket taker and female need to reflect the environment they live in. The ticket taker is working for money, he cannot board the ark and so his own life is almost as poor as the frail women who visits him. The world is slowly flooding and so food is scares, clothes are ruined and the survivors have to create lives from found objects. They will be thin, boney and filthy from their struggle, similarly to the characters within The Road.

In the next few days I'll be sketching out all my ideas, it is important to remember the logic that The Road follows. The characters need to be thin, skeletal and nomadic in appearance. Keep checking back on my blog in the coming days as I start develop visual ideas on paper. I urge everyone to read the book and watch the film, both are incredible in every aspect.

Can I ask you something? he said.
Yes. Of course.
Are we going to die?
Sometime. Not now.

- Coneversation between father and son

The Ticket Taker Production Schedule

2011-02-01T02:51:00.000Z

Time is really tight on this project, but with careful planning and hard work it is all possible. This timetable gives an idea at how I'd like the project to play out. Things will go wrong and issues will arise but hopefully I've allowed enough time at the end of the project in order to fix these issues. More detail will be added as my ideas develop.

Transcription Timetable

Influence, Style and Tone

2011-02-01T01:41:00.000Z

I've spent a lot of my day researching style and the visual tone I want to achieve in my animation. The story itself is a sombre but romantic tale of love in a dying world. The tone I really want to achieve is a dark beauty whilst emphasising the painterly effect I captured during my summer project concept art. Style is really important to me, it sets the tone from a single image and will hopefully prevent my working falling into the very generic CG look that is so easily done.

My influences come from a variety of sources, from the illustrative style of J.C. Leyendecker to the steam punk ideas of Bioshock. I see the animation as a dystopian future in which the only real stories that hold substance are of relationship and character. The world will be populated by huge metallic arks that hold the rich, and crumbling towns that are slowly dying as the sea rises. The two characters show their love for each other in nuance and the slightest of signs. The odd look or smile, the flicker of eye contact and the awkward movement around one another. Until suddenly, in the final moments of the animation they realise their place in all the chaos and simply hold hands and they watch the world around them plunge into darkness.

Despite all this chaos, the animation will not be fast or frantic, the cuts will echo the pace of the music. The world is in chaos yes, but it is in a slow destruction of chaos. The animation is not about the world in this sense, the real focus is of a relationship between two characters and the world is simply a backdrop. (Hopefully a fascinating, dark and beautiful backdrop.) Below are two influence maps demonstrating some of the aesthetic and design choices I wish to follow.

I will post more detail into some of these images later as I start to develop my characters, but hopefully this gives an idea of the look and tone I want to achieve. The characters are essentially poor nomads who are dressed in the bare essentials. I don't want to stylise my character too much, they will have a realistic form but a slight emphasise on certain features such as eyes to exaggerate emotion. Further tone will be added with the animation of the characters themselves. Film plays a huge influence in this sense, the relationships in films such as The Road or shows like The Office capture character in almost perfection. It is this feeling that I want to capture...

The project is going to be a challenge, but I'm excited and really determined to produce something amazing. The last project really took energy out of me, but now that I have a chance to work alone and only worry about my own time and work I feel I can work more effectively and hopefully improve my skills.

The Ticket Taker

2011-02-01T00:42:00.002Z

The Ticket Taker will tell the story of an apocalyptic world in which only money seems to be a survival essential. The rich are boarding the last arks in the land, allowing them to travel to what they hope to be safety, whilst the rest of the world is left to fend for themselves. In these days of destruction and lost hope a ticket taker is paid to allow entrance to one of the final arks. A lady approaches in the desolated landscape, but without money he cannot allow her to aboard the ark. Instead of leaving her, he gives up his post and ventures out with her as they attempt to survive together. They travel through deserted towns as the water slowly rises and in their final moments on this world, they hold hands and watch the final arks sail away.

The animation is transcribed from a piece by The Low Anthem titled Ticket Taker.

The Biker from the Black Lagoon Summary

2011-01-31T23:57:00.001Z

Before I start posting all the transcription info and research I thought it best to show a conclusion of the last project. It was a project of mixed feelings, in areas we succeeded and others I just felt really let down and dissappointed. But, now it's all over, I can move on to transcription with confidence and hopefully produce my best work yet.

The two big issues seemed to be the editing of the trailer, and the lack of character animation. Both of which came down to group issues. But with the negative points, there were also some successes. The art direction and rigged characters were successful, and the aesthetic of the film seemed to work well. Despite some of these problems, the project was extremely useful at preparing us for the future. I think we all learnt a lot, from technical aspects to group dynamics, but I feel it is a shame that we couldn't get it together in the final stages. Here are the promotional stills for the trailer.

And here are the turnarounds for our female and diver character.

The Scientist Turnaround from Jordan Buckner on Vimeo.

The Diver Turnaround from Jordan Buckner on Vimeo.

I also managed to put together the art book despite feeling dead after deadline, it doesn't go into the detail that I wanted but hopefully it gives a bit of an insight into the process.

The Biker from the Black Lagoon Art Book

And finally, the animatic, showing how we intended the trailer to play out.

The Biker from the Black Lagoon Animatic from Jordan Buckner on Vimeo.

Transcription Ideas

2011-01-28T19:06:00.000Z

So, after Phil told me to take a step back and assess what I want to achieve from the project I realised that the real area that interests me is the combination of film and music in order to achieve some sort of emotional impact. I spent a lot of time listing to a lot of music again and hopefully these ideas have some promise.

Idea #1

The first idea comes from the music of Elliott Smith. His music seems to have a really powerful effect in it's raw and honest form. The piece that I feel could work as a piece of transcription is the song Between the Bars which you can hear below.

The idea for this piece hasn't really developed much but I wanted to tell a love story between a couple through the good and bad times of their life. The idea came from the line "Drink up baby, look at the stars..." however, beyond that the idea hasn't really evolved. The single image of a couple looking up at the stars has been in my head but I've struggled to think how this could develop.

Idea #2:

The second idea was inspired by a piece of music by The Low Anthem. This piece titled The Ticket Taker has a subtle sound yet moving story.

My idea for the animation would follow a ticket taker in an apocalyptic world as he checks the tickets onto one of the lasts Arks in the land. As he does so a lady approaches the ark without money or hope. He cannot let her aboard but instead lets the ark depart as he stays and help her survive. The camera stays motionless as they watch the ark sail away. I'd like to keep the film simple to a point, and have the emotion drawn from shots and editing. There are other Low Anthem songs that I'd love to transcribe but this is the one that I feel has the biggest impact. Check them out below....

Idea #3

I wanted to find a piece of music that could just inspire images from me but had no real identity so I turned to Icelandic band Sigur Ros. This is the piece that really kicked off the idea I've thought about most...

The idea involves a lone astronaut as we discover his spaceship is dead and slowly plummeting towards a burning meteorite. The animation is a record of his last moments as he realises that there is no way out and has to face death. He sits and looks at a picture of his wife, all the while the space ship slowly descends closer to the meteorite. Suddenly he stands up and walks transfixed on a point off camera. The camera tracks down the long hallway of the ship as he burst into a sprint and grabs on to a female character. We realise this is his wife, he puts his hand to her face and the tension is heightened as we know these two face death together. The close up edits strengthen the idea of their love and it would allow me to hold shots for extra effect. The camera then cuts to a longer shot, the man is silhouetted by the burning meteorite that exists outside the spaceship window and we realise that he is in fact a lone. More from Sigur Ros below...

For the last couple of days the third idea has been most promising to me, but listening back to The Low Anthem it just seems a song that lends itself so well to the style I want to achieve. The last two ideas are really character studies, I'd want to keep them simple and exclude any speech. Instead simply tell the stories through camera shots, character expression and some effective editing. I've still got a lot to think about but I'd really appreciate advice and comments from everyone.

Transcription Ideas

2011-01-27T15:40:00.001Z

I’ve been thinking about transcription for a long time, but with all the project work from the narrative project I’ve not had time to think anything through to a conclusion and I want this to be the project where my work stands out and actually does something to the audience. The first option would be continuing where I left of on my summer project. This was successful in it’s design but I really didn’t get the impression that it had a lasting impact. Here is a reminder of the work I produced during that project…

The big issue I have with going back to this project is that the music and imagery just doesn't evoke much from an audience. So after speaking to Phil, he suggested I assess what I want to achieve with the animation. What inspires me and interests me and then use these as a platform to find something. So what I really want to achieve is a mix of film and music that evokes some strong emotion in the audience. My inspiration comes from films such as The Road, Moon, The Assassination of Jesse James and various others that look at the darker sides of life. The best way forward I felt was to listen to all the music I own that really has an impact and see which evoked some imagery. So after days of listening I feel I’ve got three ideas that could go forward, I’ll post them in separate posts so keep an eye out for them tonight.