Saul Bass and his famous Storyboards

Story Board artist for Hitchcocks famous Shower scene and for the film Sparticus. I think it's quite nice to see the story board for Sparticus as it has colour and a bit more freedom than Bass had for Hitchcock. When the first project was to do a storyboard I knew I had a blog post for this. I love story boarding, I find it so therapeutic and compelling.

 However for Hitchcock he took this process to a whole new level, where the storyboard was the film. He was so anal about his instruction he got the film drawn out in so much detail he knew what it was going to look like before he'd finished it and during filming actually got bored during because he'd already planned it all and done all the creative process. The man was a crazy genius when it came to directing and I'm sure there's lots I could say about his mad methods however I want this post to resonate the beauty in his storyboards and how well planned they all are, bear witness and enjoy.

http://www.empireonline.com/features/unseen-saul-bass/p7  

http://faculty.cua.edu/johnsong/hitchcock/storyboards/psycho/sb-boards.html

Eagle vs Shark

Shark VS Eagle is a quirky film, with Jermaine Clement more formerly known for Flight of the Conchords this fella struck again with comedy gold with this film. As you can see from the trailer a misfit falls in love with a misfit they are both pretty funny to laugh at in there own right he has a fight with a disabled man all the golden moments are there. However in an and amongst this are snippets of animation and although the credit scene is repeated and has it's own narrative (by the way I don't think the song is meant to be taken seriously) there is a really really nice pixelation in this film where they chase each other in sleeping bags and it's like they are caterpillars moving along. That scene stood out to me as soon as we were told the task for the week was pixelation and so even though I couldn't find the clip I had to reference the film.

Bottle by Kirsten Lepore

This beautifully executed stop motion is without a doubt one of the most heartwarming animations I've seen recently. The fact that she's gone off location pushed passed her usual boundaries of using sets and made a stop motion/pixelation video where the characters still manage to move smoothly with charm and grace is outstanding and worth credit. I love the uniqueness and originality of this short and how the characters have appeal and the narrative has meaning and it's done with conviction and it's successful. I know it's good because I wish I'd made this.

Beeline, Russian Mobile Operator, Pixelation.

A short advert advertising Russian mobile operator Beeline, this advert explains how to top up your phone from your phone! How exciting! The most exciting thing about this film however is how it uses pixelation but does it with real dogs. I've had problems with keeping people still whilst doing my pixelation imagine how hard it must be with actual dogs!




But if you watch this video it shows hidden details in the making of the advert and how they wore blue long rubber gloves and held the dog in place whilst taking pictures. Which may seem cruel or may not but I bet he got lots of treats and the results were super cute.

En Tus Brazos - In Your Arms

This beautiful animation captures the essence of an old world france through a delicious tango dance, with such beautiful lighting. The sepia tone, and changing in depth of field all adds to the romantic mood of this short animation. It's so french it's just beautiful. The transition between scenes are just seemless. The romantic photo album with moving pictures captures that of a lost age. The detail in reflections and shadows is just poetic and the movement is so soft and flowing it is poetry in animation. Even though the 3D animation isn't perfect to say it's half a decade old it'd pretty darn good, the viewer gets so lost in the story it's hard to notice the aging style. It's a timeless piece and I love it.

Kara, Development for PS3 trailer

I don't know that much about the work that goes on in designing a game. But I know that in the time this piece of 3D games design was made it was state of the art, but what touched me about it, is the actual story line within this little piece of animation. It really did touch me so much it almost had me in tears at one point. I think that's what really makes an animation though, when the character has positive appeal. I think it's really nice that this bit of test animation has a bit of narrative because specifically for this piece it has made it really memorable. It's a few weeks since Anna showed me this and it's still stuck with me today. It all shows another form of media where animation is really important.

Emeli Reynaud - Theater Optique

It seems only just to on this day blog about Emeli Reynaud's Theater Optique as it is the 28th October, and International Animation Day. Especially as we are here at the beginning of the process with Animation skills, that I should blog about the world very first moving motion picture.

First aired in 1829, the year when The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is published and Tchaivosky's ballet performance The Nutcracker debut's, this animation is brought to life through genius mechanics using mirrors and spinning cogs and hand painted reels of imagery. You can practically sense the inspiration in these pieces for Captain Pugwash and Bugs Bunny in these short films. I like the combination of the theater with animation and the old school piano playing telling the story of the production. I've never given much thought to the beginnings of animation and I'm really grateful I discovered this today I think it's important to look at what came first. It's not the edgiest tale but put into context it's so unique.

Charlie and Lola by Lauren Child

The kids TV show is a heartwarming show of two adorable sweetlings who are brother and sister, if you had kids you'd want them to be like Charlie and Lola. Charlie's the eldest a protective brother who narrates the story and Lola is the silly one who is learning about the universe and charlie educates here. Often they have adventures as they learn. Lola reminds me of little Karen out of Outnumbered. The animation matches the essence of the show as it is like paper cut out as all the people and images have white lines around them to create the effect that they have been cut out of paper. I also really like how the textures are all crayon like so it is similar to being immersed into a child's world. Successful because all these characteristics work together to emphasise Lola's gentle humour in each short snapshot of Charlie and Lola's life.

Created by illustrator and Writer Lauren Child her latest works for Liberty (Fabric patterns) and latest book (Maude - illustrations painted onto plywood to reveal texture) all play with the touchy feely sense and have this running theme throughout. Her website also has the same charm as Charlie and Lola the TV show.

http://www.milkmonitor.com/

TSB: The Story, Studio AKA

Studio AKA strike again with the latest advert for TSB. With revised characters from there previous campaign for Loyds TSB. Development has occured. The creative mixture of 2D and 3D animation portrays a beautiful harmonious community, and actually builds a trusting feeling towards this bank. A Local bank you could actually trust having your money with. Serving more than 4.5 million customers TSB are starting with a large holding anyways but there latest campaign is to gain the local community spirit. I believe this advert helps towards that, however there is only so much you can do for a bank. I think the animation has a simplicity which gives it an elegance and captivates the audience. Also it is intriguing to know that TSB are advertising this in local community spaces, I saw this advert at an independent cinema and they are even going as far to find outside spaces in local communities to showcase the bank. It seems like a lot of work to revamp there image but it must be very important to them, but this is a truly beautiful piece of animation.

Trusts and Estates

DISCLOSURE: If you don't like swearing / insolent and disgusting people don't watch this.

I made the mistake of putting it on whilst watching TV with my mum on a sunday afternoon and she made me turn it off. Mainly because she though it was full of negative energy. However I thought it makes a really interesting contrast to the Two Chips short where the guy had recorded his wife telling a joke drunkenly, where as this is someone whose got the overheard conversation of four lawyers at lunch. Even though they have both approached the narrative in similar ways it's interesting to see how completely opposite the two styles are and how the target audiences are so different. I think it's really captivating how the simplicity of the hand drawn animation with the intensity of the black hair and looming suits really captures the slimeyness of the characters. They aren't the type of people you'd want to know in real life and i like how the lack of detail doesn't distract from the conversation. Emphasising it to the public. I think it is important that things like this are made though so that they actually see it and are ashamed and people actually make sure this behaviour isn't acceptable. The main reason it's been so successful is because of the controversy.

Rob 'n' Ron -Tumblehead

From the danish studio Tumblehead, this western animation has a noble glow of gentle comedy with these two wanted characters. Although the narrative is relatively simple the success in this animation is in the way visual imagery is used. I really like the combination of real sand in the dunes with the hand drawn animated characters. I think it's use of multimediums is really successful. I also really like how these characters are like modern disney characters, the fella with the moustache does remind me of Yosemite Sam (Looney Tunes). But rather than declassing it's originality I think it adds to the feeling of the animation and makes it more homely because we feel like we've already seen the characters and they've got a modern twist but they remain familiar.

http://www.tumblehead.com/

Peter Nash talks about Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 Foodimals - Reported by CartoonBrew

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 had potential to be a great animation, to be up there with the disney greats, live in the history books. However it's poor storyline let it down. However it's character design is beyond belief. There's a link at the bottom to a cartoon brew article where Peter Nash talks about the foodimals, unfortunately the link can't be embedded but I've taken screenshots of some of the great ideas of the character design from it.

As you can see the creative brains behind sony pictures have worked there socks off invested a whole new universe filled with foodimals. The wittiest of the creatures include the mosquitoast, flamango and buffaloaf. I think credit is due with the playfulness of design they are really spectacular.

 The Shrimpanzee probably is my favourite out of all the foodimals, the way it combines the oafish arms of a chimp and the shape of a chimp is really clever but at the same time it also remains simplistic and not overwhelming with details. This applies to all the foodimals, i think this takes a really skilled animator to be able to evaluate how much detail is needed without going over board.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/how-to/exclusive-sony-animator-peter-nash-talks-about-the-foodimals-in-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-2-89532.html





I think it's important to note how in the article on cartoon brew they make note of how they didn't invest all there money on the basic design but they invested into the movement's too to round them off. If only they'd of invested the same amount into the story line.

Moonrise Kingdom Illustrated Script

This film can only be described as quirky, but only in all the right ways. An eccentric cute tale about two young lovers, Suzy and Sam who run away together on the 12 mile long island penzance in the seventies. I love this film to pieces and i find it difficult to describe why without giving every detail of the whole narrative. Everything is so well formulated. I choose to sample Peter Bradshaw's (Guardain Film Critique) who says "there is ellegance and formal brilliance in Moonrise Kingdom, as well as a lot of gentle winning comedy." Finally he says "Anderson's homemade aesthetic is placed at the service of a counter-digital, almost hand-drawn cinema, and he has an extraordinary ability to conjure a distinctive universe, entire of itself. To some, Moonrise Kingdom may be nothing more than souffle of strangeness, but it rises superbly."

www.guardain.co.uk/film/2012/may/24/moonrise-kingdom-review

My words could not of beared the film that much justice a poetic summary. Although there is such greatness in the film alone the hidden gem that makes it so much more worthwhile is the illustrated script.

http://focusguilds2012.com/mrkscript/

I love the combination between intensly accurate set drawings, screen shots with quotes and rough plans of the camera angles. It gives an insight into the workings of the genius behind the quirky universe that Moonrise Kingdom belongs to. It also shows the care and planning that went into the feature film all of which was worthwhile and to me gives the same warm fuzzy feeling that the film gives.

Pendulum Swinging

For this pose to pose studio task it was our first time at doing orginal hand drawn animation with a light box and peg bar. I found it really difficult to work through the process so i decided to draw all the poses on one sheet and then worked from this rather than following through. I feel this was a more effective method for me personally but may not work with more complex animated pieces, such as faces etc.

Walking Photoshop Frame by Frame Animation practice

After having the Photoshop induction using the wacom tablet I decided to have a go myself with my first ever walk sequence. I believe for a first attempt it is of a good standard however there are a lot of areas for improvement. The waste repeatedly pops bigger in size and the back leg seems to not be as bouncy as the front. So when we do this exercise later on with Matt I can rectify these errors.

Flip Books

For this studio task three flip books were required to demonstrate squash and stretch much like a hand drawn version of the photoshop task. I think mine were successful with there colour changes however i fund it very challenging to flip the books, the pages often stuck to my thumbs. So for best effect I scanned them in.

Clover Butter and Milk Advert.

Another cracking advert from South African based studio Shy The Sun. The interpretation of the narrative for this advert is spectacular. I love how it's emphasised by the gold and milky purple colour scheme. The design of each step in the churning process is mind blowing. I feel like it should tell some epic fantasy quest and hold a deep narrative and that it's wasted on an advert. The flow of the animation is especially successful in the fact that each process follows on from another, for example when the elephants cut the cubes of butter when the boats are churning it in there bellies the cubes of flying butter can be seen floating over them. Because of this, the advert does very much remind me of the coca cola vending machine advert however someone else made that. I think the magical elements of this are compelling and make it so likeable because it feels like it was made with love.



http://www.shythesun.tv/our-work

Motorola TV Advert

Advert for Motorola

You may know these Rabbits a Ubisoft Game, Raymon Raving Rabbids which is french is called Raymon contre le Lapins Cretins which translates to Raymon against the moronic rabbits. Created by parisian studio Mecanique Generale, which by the way have the most delicious, amazing website I have ever been on to date. The reason I think this animation is successful is due to the short snippets of activity in certain periods of time. The way they have put the modern technology in a medieval time is really charming. I also really like how the scenes follow the same format with white backgrounds, falling scenery and ending on a painted illustrated version. The characters work with simple structures as the facial expressions are so detailed. As an advert I think it's equally as successful as it promotes the key features of the phone and the phone stands out from the characters. It shows these phones can be used by any moronic rabbit and any person.

http://www.mecanique-g.com/

LG Viewty Flip Book

There is an old famous saying that the devil is in the detail. Well the devil is certainly in this piece.

Commissioned for an advert for Dutch Company LG viewty, I think this piece is more successful as a piece of entertainment than advert. I don't think it works well in selling the company because it's not clear what it's for, and certain elements such as the soundtrack contribute to it being not memorable enough to remember the company.

However forgetting that it's an advert the quality of the flip book is on another level. I really like how clean the lines are, you can't see any pencil lines underneath or finger marks on the pages. Then there's the number of flips, the amount of detail and work that has gone into it. I really like how this is emphasised by a lack of colour, it focus' on this simplicity of the quality without any unnecessary extras.

Photoshop Frame By Frame

During the morning of our Photoshop induction we were shown how to create the basic frame by frame animations.

Our first attempt was with a bouncing ball, but as you can see there is no squashing and stretching.

Therefore I repeated the exercise, by drawing the ball with a wacom tablet. Although I think for a second attempt it is successful, especially with colour changes, I really like how the colours get dimmer as the ball decrease in energy. I think it could be improved with smoother shapes. This is a technique that could only be improved with practice.





Finally I created a pendulum. Although the easing in and out is really successful, I think that this could be improved if it wasn't floating in mid air and more detail could be added. However the basics are all there.

End Overfishing Infographic

I was very moved by this 3D rendered Infographic. I think it blurs the line between animation and infographic. I like how it looks like it could be transported into the real world made out of paper and card. The strong prism shapes add an elegance in the style and slight detail, the way light and shadow plays around the prisms on the ship is really nice and looks simple but I highly doubt it was.

I'm not normally one to take to infographics, especially american ones they all tend to follow a similar structure and just blur into one corny reel of statistics in my head. However this one has stuck with me for a couple of weeks now and I genuinely feel the need to share it because the facts in it scared me.

I don't eat much fish.

I was really disappointed by peoples reactions to the video. A lot of the comments reitterate the same thing, "Why does this video blame the politicians when it's the consumers fault." Why are you wasting your energy making this comment when it's clear it doesn't matter whose to blame but a change needs to happen. We should make it.

End Overfishing.

Arctic Monkeys - Do I wanna Know By David Wilson

Do I wanna Know?


This is what production company Colonel Blimp has to say about it;

"David's latest video doesn't merely accompany the track, it forms an inseparable and particularly mesmerising part of the music itself. Taking his skill for interpreting a track through surrealist and seamlessly flowing animations up a notch by, paradoxically, limiting his ingredients to simple lines and a handful of colours, he uses the track's baseline as the foundation for an infinite dimension where choreography, drag racing and illustrative sound waves happily coexist."
sited 13:48 16/10/2013 from http://www.colonelblimp.com/#!project_arcticmonkeys-doiwannaknow?_2723

In my opinion Colonel Blimp, the production company of this video sums up this video more eloquently than I ever could. It's very true that what makes this video so effective is the striking minimalism on screen, the emphasis of the bassline providing what can only be compared to as a caviar or visual taste matching the lobster of a song. I love how it flows and progresses into colour and highspeed track racing, women and all manner of things that reek the essence of cool. It fits the song perfectly.

I decided to look into this David Wilson bloke only to discover that he himself had also directed the video for Tame Impala's song Mind Mischief.



Although I think this is a great piece of work, I don't think it fits as beautifully as the video does for Do I wanna Know. I really enjoyed the story line and the hazy 1970's school boy filming but I don't think the animation was as strong. Although the visual imagery captured the playfulness of the situation with the style of line and block colour. I think the psychedelic side of it was just a bit too serious and didn't work with it. It also strongly reminded me of the visuals from Youth in Revolt when Micheal Cera's character takes mushrooms across between the opening scene of Grease which crinkled his originality with this one for me. I don't think this video lived up to the song.

I also looked a few other pieces of his work and I think that Do I wanna Know is his best piece by far, although my opinion may be slightly clouded by the poetic beauty of the song itself.

http://www.colonelblimp.com/

Studio Task - Photoshop frame by frame

In the afternoon of the photoshop induction the exercises were then repeated to create more fluid movements and to practice with the software and tablet. I really enjoyed this exercise and found the repetition of the process therapeutic. Not being used to using this form of animating I am very pleased in what I have created in a short space of time.\

Happy Flowers TV Advert, Shy The Sun

South African based multimedia studio, Shy the Sun, created this advert a couple of years ago but I've only just discovered it. The reason I was drawn to it is because of the charm of the Characters. With there northern accents and bold colours the connection I feel with them is really relatable and although it didn't make me we want a hose, it made the advert really stand out.

I also really like the cheesey music I think it really fits with the advert and works well at creating the happy emotion. I think as well they got the balance right between the amount of time the hose was on screen being the focal point and the flower being the focal point, because the balance is crucial. I think it's a really successful short ad.

Nokia Fashion House TV Advert

It's rare that I notice textiles in animation. Often when i do, it's not always the best crafted I've ever seen, however I think this one is an exception. I think this is because it's been created in a different process to others I've watched. A collaboration between illustrator Lizzie Finn and director Clare Price, they made her illustrations come to life through firstly filming live action, then rotoscoping in flash to get the stitched line then creating the quilted effect in a 3D. I think it's successful because it focus' on the skill of the textiles and not the high end fashion glam. The simple stitch takes it back to the basics. But I think that it does make it look a bit older and the advert looks more out dated than it actually is. However I still rate it, it's retro.

http://www.lizziefinn.com/

Kraak and Smaak - Squeeze Me, Flip Book

 Andre Matt is the proud director of this award winning (1st Prize, St. Petersburg Dutch Music Festival Awards) music video. Although the flip books aren't hand drawn I found it quite captivating how they had been handmade with photos yet still combined with live film. I found it really natural how my eye could easily flick between the live film action and action in the flip book and there's a really nice balance between the two. The colour scheme of the blue and flesh/yellow is captivating and effective but not as effective as the pace of video in time with the music. There's no other way to say it, the timing is spot on.

One flaw I'd mention is that the flipping of the flip books isn't always the smoothest, but I think that gives it a more human quality, and it's only very apparent if you watch the video with the music off.  As far as providing a visual aid for the song, I think this video is great as it really adds to the music. I think music videos are under rated these days.


http://www.andremaat.com/

Two Chips, Short by Adam Patch

Episode 01: Two Chips The story goes like this. My wife and I were visiting my family in Colorado. For some reason my sister was on this wild PUN rampage, making some kinda of pun or cheap joke at every opportunity she had. Well, after a night of eating and drinking with the fam, my wife and I headed to bed. As we were laying there about to fall asleep, Morgan says "Ok, I got one....there were two chips...". I said "WAIT". Got out my phone and hit record. "Ok, go ahead". 


This charming short film was made on a whim and went viral. The child like nature of the animation mimics that of the nature of the joke. Made to entertain, it is a pure delight. What I think makes it successful is how elegantly the animation plays through the joke, with the school and the playground popping up in the background but the chips remain the same to keep them as the focal point. Also, without the speech bubbles the joke wouldn't have been as amusing for me, because I wouldn't have got the talking/taco wordplay, as that isn't a familiar reference for me as a Brit.  The repeat of the following 'nacho friend' joke and the fact that it is then dragged out at the end allows the laugh to carry on. I think this is needed as it balances out the long build up to the joke whilst the scene is set. From the animating perspective I really like how the eyes tell the story without the chips needing to move. Overall I think this is a really quaint and unique use of animation and it made me laugh.

http://twochipsanimation.com/

http://www.adampatch.com/

Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

Tame Impala's latest album, Lonerism, is fuelled with dreamy guitar riffs and hazy beats. The music video for the song Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is spot on in providing a visual addition to the song. Directed by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, the video is made from over 1000 individually hand made plasticine collages. There is no other way to describe this than as a true work of art.

As you can see in the picture this was a labour intensive process. The organisation is the key element to it being pulled off, as it's a very simple concept. In my opinion, the main reason the video is successful is due to it's victorious beauty because of the clean lines and the quick pace of changing colours to make it almost hypnotic. That's not to stay other claymation music video's like the historic Bruce Bickford's work for Frank Zappa isn't as visually stunning. This to me seems to be a modern take on his work. The eyes and the head at the end are more Bickford-esque than the flat boards but I like how it is their own unique take on it. I think the use of a wide range of colours is captivating as it contrasts with the simple shapes of clay.

http://beckyandjoes.com/