Task 2

In this task we had a choice of 9 audio clips to lip sync, using Preston Blaire's guide to assist us. I did not however, find the guide useful, it was too humanoid for my anthropomorphic cat. I chose The Matrix clip as I could imagine a cat in place of Agent Smith. The actual character design was loosely based off an exercise we did last year. The characters design is a good for the role as it looked to be a 'thuggish' character.

When I tried to move the chin to lip synch, I found it difficult to get the mouth shapes I wanted, in order to portray the dialogue accurately.So, I looked at many anthropomorphic cats. i settled on a version of the Cheshire cat which I felt was perfect - as The Matrix is based on Alison Wonderland.

I had to choose whether to use the original version, or the Tim Burton version and I decided on using a combination of both. I took inspiration from the Tim Burton creepy teeth and the animation style of the original.Then I put Morpheus's glasses on the cat.

I struggled with the actual lip sync as I couldn't really process Dottys tutorial at the time. So i struggled with the time remapping in after effects. After someone was able to sit down with ,me and explain it at a slower pace, i found it easy and convenient. I also used a dope sheet for the first time properly. It really helped putting in all the expressions.
 
 What went well

• I felt like I really succeeded in creative problem solving.  I had a problem and solved it in a way which makes sense and I'm really happy with my idea.
• The cat looks really creepy and off putting. Staying true to both the original character and Tim Burtons version.
• I was happy with my character design, as it is easily recognizable as a cat.

What could be improved

the lip synch worked to a certain degree, however, I don't think this is one of my strengths.

my timing could be improved

my in-between frames could have been smoother

Study Task 3 - Pt 2

Secondary sauce image (1)

This essay will be focusing on the production and process used to create the puppets in our animation. I started off by looking at Cantonese (Hong Kong and Macau, China) and Pekingese (Peking,China) puppets. "The Cantonese puppets were bigger and less delicate than the Pekingese." (3) The puppetry rods were attached perpendicular to the puppets in order to avoid creating a shadow. "The rods of the Pekingese puppets were able to be seen because they were attached to the puppet neck before they were bent out of the way." (2) This avoided any interference with the shadow figure. The story goes that the puppets would come alive at night, so their heads were severed from their bodies and placed in separate boxes, but this is merely superstition.

Secondary sauce image (2)

We started looking at cutout animation with the intention to create something in a similar vain to the Cantonese and Pekingese puppets. 'Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials, such as, paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs.' (1) I was inspired by Lotte Reiniger and her process and methods of producing puppets.She " was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. She is also noted for having devised a predecessor to the first multiplane camera; she made more than 40 films, all using her invention.^"(4)
 

Primary sauce image of our dragon puppet

As part of our decision to go with tradigital animation, we wanted to create a digital version of these puppets. We decided to use after effects as you are able to rig characters easily and we are all most comfortable and well versed in this software. to create a more detailed puppet I made dragon scales from tiny pieces of paper on top of each other to add extra texture (fig 2) I also scanned in fur to use for the tail and her head. (fig 3)  although these ended up not being used.

Secondary sauce text links

1.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutout_animation

2.http://www.afyp.org/blog/2017/1/27/afyp-in-the-know-theater-history-chinese-japanese-theater
3.http://www.ibiblio.org/chineseculture/contents/entr/p-entr-c04s01.html
4.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Reiniger

Secondary sauce image links

1. https://www.tour-beijing.com/xian_nightlife/the_shadow_show.php
2. https://www.kozaksclassiccinema.com/the-adventures-of-prince-achmed-1926/

Additional sauces i found interesting 
https://youtu.be/6C6m3aKjzLk
https://www.chineseshadowpuppetry.com/

Study Task 3 Pt 1

Secondary sauce (1)

Early on in the process we decided to use a watercolour as our aesthetic for our backgrounds and use handmade textures and digital paper cutout puppets. For the backgrounds, I took inspiration from Chinese watercolor and ink paintings."Chinese painting has developed continuously over a period of more than six thousand years.  Its growth has inevitably reflected the changes of time and social conditions."(3). The artists use nature as and their understanding of the laws of nature as a whole to create an aesthetic composition. 

Primary sauce, early watercolour texture painting from project

These paintings are often ‘told’ as though being viewed from a bird’s perspective or indeed a dragon’s. From studying these painting I noticed how translucent the paint was. I tried to capture this in my work by only blending the colours out with water and layering the paint thinly using multiple washes. of colour 

Primary sauce, background texture from initial watercolour texture

I decided to make them tradigital so that we'd be able to capture a more modem feel.  'Tradigital refers to the melding or combination of the traditional and computer based (digital) methods used to create something.' (1) To make my water colour backgrounds tradigital I brought them into Photoshop and edited them. 
 

Primary sauce, finished background

Secondary sauce (2)

Song of the Sea is a fantastic example of good tradigital animation.'Beginning with line drawings on paper and watercolour backgrounds, Song Of The Sea's animation is embellished further with computer graphics - an approach which, if anything, makes the movie look even more like a moving painting.' (2)

Secondary sauced links

1. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/23831/tradigital 
2. https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/song-of-the-sea/36038/song-of-the-sea-how-an-animated-treat-was-made
3. https://www.asia-art.net/chinese_brush.html

Secondary sauced imagery

1. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor/chinese-landscape-painting/
2. https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/song-of-the-sea/247440/song-of-the-sea-how-an-animated-treat-was-made