Research - "No Place Like Home" Thee Wreckers

This is an animation that I watched when at an animation festival in Holland a year or so ago. Its mega creepy and uses some fantastic camera shots that really captures the chaos of the main character's world.

I looked at this and felt that the band had a wonderful creepy way of floating around in the air, which I felt would be good reference if animating a ghost character. However at this stage in my idea progress, I think I will probably have a monster rather then a ghost.

However, I have learnt a lot about how to create an unnerving atmosphere through the use of repetition and contrast of past and present.

Research - How To Cope With Death

Here's an old animation I saw when I was in my Foundation Diploma year at Ravensbourne College. It's another animation that I haven't seen in a little while, that really impressed me. I had trouble tracing it, but with the help of my good pal Michelle Vinall, we managed to find it! Here it is!



This animation was created by a company called "Tandem", who are coincidentally the same people behind one of my favourite series of animations called "Simon's Cat". They have done many other fantastic pieces of work, and I must say this one is one of the most detailed and shocking.

The animation is absolutely stunning throughout. The use of composition, posing and camera shots really help to tell the story. Some noticeable moments include the melodic rocking of the woman in comparison to the calculating Death, the secondary animation of the white streak as Death moves, and the back rest of the destroyed rocking chair becoming Death's gravestone. Very poignant.

The colours are interesting in this one, though. At first the colours are putrid yellows, which to me suggest cowardice and caution, then when the old lady awakens and fights back, the fire of the tv creates an angry red colour, which reflects the fury of Death. The animation ends with with green shades, to give a neutral safe atmosphere in comparison to the early fear and chaos.

What I love about this fantastic tale is the complete switch in control of the situation. At first we are led to believe that Death will silence his victim with ease, but the sudden energy the old woman displays really makes for a fantastic twist in the plot. I hava given it some though, and I have decided that this is something I would like to have in my story. The dramatic twist in control.

Research - LIMBO

I have started playing a fair few spooky games recently, and I thought that I should share some of them with you, especially since I am thinking of doing a scary animation idea. It'll be good to study something that has been created to frighten people. I may be able to get some cool tips from some examples such as this one.


"LIMBO" is a downloadable game that can be found on XBox 360. Playdead Studios, a Danish video game developer, were responsible for making this film noir-esque Side-scrolling game. It involves a boy who has to overcome many difficult and often sinister obstacles in his path to find his lost sister. Below is a link to a clip from the 4 Player Podcast vid of a playthrough hosted by Brad. Look out - spoilers likely!

4Player Podcast - Brad plays LIMBO

Sketchdump 01

Here's some preliminary sketches I have done of the main characters, based on some of my early ideas for the story.

I havent done many design ideas for a monster character yet, though I will probably do some soon. I'm still stuck on my concept for the story, mainly because of what Jared said about it being a bit childish.

Any, here are my thoughts on the drawings. Most recent pics are at the top, older pics are further down.

A more finalized series of sketches of the 2D ghost. Heavily inspired by Scott Pilgrim and Danny Phantom (colours and pixelation of ghost's tail)
More finalized version of boy. Have decided that his name will probably be Blake, after one of the band members of The Submarines (yep, the band that plays "1940")
Early drawings of Blake. He is black/mixed-race because I wanted this to be more multi-cultural. I haven't designed many black characters either, so I figured it might be a nice opportunity for me to have a go.
Early ghost sketches, experimenting with size and shape. Inspired by Medusa from "Little Mermaid"
More designs, that inspired more finalized ghost pic above. Haunter from "pokemon" was a big influence here.

First drawings of ghost and boy. Sketch of exaggerated bed as well.

Research - Paprika

"Paprika" is a film that I watched not long ago that really struck a chord with me. It's a mind-blowing film with wildly abstract concepts. The animation impressed me a lot, but the complexity of the whole thing just bewildered me slightly.

I bought the DVD recently for a fiver, and decided to watch it again. I feel that I can appreciate it a bit more now, and have also realized that there is some material in here that I can analyze for this blog.

I'll try not to go into too much detail, since this is such a complex film, but I'll give you a general idea of what this film is about. Basically it is about an organisation that have discovered a way to bridge the gap between people's dreams and reality. A man by the name of Doctor Kōsaku Tokita has created a device that is attached to an individual's head during slumber, which enables anyone to enter the dreams of the wearer. A lady by the name of Doctor Atsuko Chiba is a psychiatrist who helps patients using this apparatus, under the guise of her alter ego "Paprika".

However, a miscreant has managed to steal the secret of the device and manages to raid other people's dreams, causing havoc and danger to those caught in their trap! Who is responsible for this? Atsuko, Kosaku, Doctor Toratarō Shima and patient Detective Toshimi Konakawa try to decipher the truth behind the mind control mystery


There are many things I liked in this film that I would like to share with you. Firstly, this film revolves around people who are in danger during moments of great vulnerability. When people are asleep, they are unconscious to what is going on around them.

Also, the way the dreams are presented are fantastic. I can fully describe how, but they perfectly depict the nonsensical way dreams operate. For instance, Detective Toshimi's dream moves rapidly from one story to another. The parade, which is a continuing theme in the film, is a unnerving yet wonderful mixture of colours and brings together so many intricately animated "characters".

Near the end, dreams enter reality in a mad clash of forces. The protagonist and her alter ego meet as well, which makes an interesting turn of events. Here's where they introduce the dreamworld to the real world:





I reckon that this is an animated version of Inception, though I haven't had the good fortune to see that film yet. Perhaps I should though!

Also, check out this track. I really like the quirky mix of different musical techniques. It makes you feel a little on edge, but after a while it becomes infectiously catchy. I found myself humming this track a lot after watching this film. Care to join me?

E-mail Conversation With Jared

Here's a conversation I have had so far with my tutor Jared.

Before I started my present project, I had agreed to partake in another project Jared had challenged us with. Graham Marsh, the illustrator of the book "Max and the Lost Note", wanted his work turned into an animation. I was one of the first people he approached about the idea. I saw the potential of the opportunity and decided to give it a shot. However, the communication within my group of interested comrades was pretty poor (I was guilty of this as well) and so nothing was done to continue. That is what we have discussed here in this relay of messages.

I also asked for Jared to look at my work so far on this blog.

Blue is Jared, Purple is me. The first e-mail from me is the most recent sent. Would make more sense if you read the last red bit first. Hope that makes sense!


Hey Jared, Thank you ever so much for the fantastically detailed reply. A lot of queries I have had have been answered, so thank you for getting back to me so promptly. I only wish I could have been in contact with you about all this sooner.

I'm so surprised about being the only person getting back to you on the Max and the Lost Note project. I guess other people have been rather distracted too, and have failed to get back into contact about the project work, which is a rut I was in too. I think the communication of the group I had gathered wasn't all that great, and maybe the people who had nominated themselves to be a part of the Max project weren't 100% dedicated to the idea. It is a shame, as I see the potential for the future to work on Graham Marsh's would probably result in some kind of employment, like you said. I think having the opportunity to complete your own project from scratch is a carrot too tantalizing to avoid.

I'm happy for you to forward on the message you e-mailed me. Hopefully it will help others understand the urgency and seriousness of the work that needs to be done, and will help clarify a few points as well. People need to know that they need to communicate more.

Your pointers you have given me for my blog have been helpful. I too am worried that I am falling into the trap of doing a very childish story. At first I intended to do a more spooky idea, centering round a ghost scaring a boy instead of monster. I intended the ghost to be animated in 2D, and the rest in 3D. May be tricky, but that would be a nice challenge! I still want to try and do a 2D and 3D animation, and that may be harder to do if my character was a monster. What do you think? Would a quirky spooky story be more challenging and interesting? The story would be more sinister too, probs not a cheerful happily ever after thing.

I think it may help if I research some more edgy stuff. I have looked at a lot of mainstream stuff like Monsters Inc, and will be writing a bit about Monsters vs Aliens, but I feel that I need to find some hidden treasures. Maybe some of the Haff Festival clips we saw will help me. Do you know of anything else that would inspire my creative senses? I also want to study interesting bedroom designs, but I'm a bit thick when it comes to environment concepts. Do you know of any good leads in that area as well?

You don't need to worry too much about me basing the whole story completely around the song, I wanted to show that this song inspired me, and may help as a basis for the music in the future. I'm sorry if that was misleading, I'll try and rewrite about that in the blog later. I see your point though, I won't let myself be tempted to make a music video. Thank you for your concern.

Sorry this is a long reply. But yes thanks again for your help and sorry about causing an inconvenience. I'll probs add your e-mail to my blog so I can expand on how I can improve. Hope that's okay!

Emma :)




On 23 September 2010 16:46, Jared Taylor wrote:

Hi Emma, good to hear from you, you are the ONLY student to respond to my mails about Max and the Lost Note. I wasn't aware until very recently about the problems with the new email addresses, it's clearly made things a little difficult. I have to say I'm really disappointed with the response from your year, it's left me in a very embarrassing position with Graham Marsh, to the point where I will have to consider very carefully before putting any live projects in front of students again. I don't mean to single you out for attention Emma as you were the only one with the professionalism or courtesy to actually let me know what was going on. If you don't mind, and if you give me your permission I'd like to forward my response to you to the rest of your year so that they can understand what's gone on here.

I think that there has been a real lack of understanding about what constitutes a valid BA project. You do all have to make a pitch, but the pitch is about viability of an idea, its planning, its research, and its communication as much as it is about its design or its storytelling. You should also bear in mind that a successful pitch will get a good grade, regardless of whether or not the pitch gets green lit. What this means is that every student will be responsible for an individual pitch, their grade is dependent upon the quality of that pitch, not upon whether the film is green lit for production or not. A valid project doesn't have to be an original idea, or even a short film. It could be an adaptation of an existing book or other intellectual property, it could be a series of adverts or stings, it could be a credit sequence. The only real caveat is that work must be equivalent. If the work lacks in complexity then it must compensate with quantity and quality. Max could have been a perfectly valid project for you to undertake as a BA project, despite the fact that you were working to develop someone else's design...

The reason that I liked this project for you guys was that it stood a real chance of providing you with your first paid animation jobs off the back of a well known IP. It will still be possible to get employment upon leaving college with a good portfolio, just not as easy as if you had worked on something where a lot of the legwork in terms of making connections has already been done.

Thanks for the link to your blog, you're doing a typically thorough job of researching your ideas, which is good to see. What I would say to you that you need to be careful about is the childlike elements of your story. Every year we get at least two pitches which are very similar in content to yours, perhaps it's a sign of students leaving their childhood behind them as they move into their twenties and looking back on it with nostalgia... For whatever reasons, it's very very common, and its ubiquity makes it difficult to do well. It's good that you're thinking already about the musical accompaniment to the story that you want to tell, but as this is a film rather than a music video you might want to develop the story in more detail and source music to fit rather than hamper your creativity by telling a story to fit the music?

I am sure that whatever you develop as a project will be done to the best of your ability, and it is after all, your project, but the advice that I have given you is concerned less with the next year of your life than it is with the next ten.

Jared

Hey Jared!

I'm terribly sorry about my lack of responses to you lately. I have been quite distracted this holiday and have only just managed to log into my new rave e-mail account. I hope you've had a pleasant Summer break!

I have considered continuing with the Max and the Lost Note project, but due to the lack of communication from people who I thought were still interested, I have started trying to develop my own animation idea to be pitched. Also, Kofi notified us on an e-mail that you had sent notifying him on what we are expected to produce when we return for BA, I was under the impression that maybe we were meant to produce our own original ideas anyway. I apologize if I got the wrong end of the stick there.

I'm fairly pleased with the idea I have come up with, and I hope that I will be able to really make the most of it. Here's my blog. I've started putting some stuff on it, so you can have a look. I'd be interested to hear what you think

http://emufmp.blogspot.com/

Again, I am truly sorry that I have had to turn down the amazing opportunity to work with Graham Marsh. I hope he won't be too offended. However, I feel that this is a great opportunity for me to utilize my own creative abilities, since I have always been interested in coming up with stories myself. I hope you will both understand.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Emma Wyton :)

Research - Bedrooms cont.

The way an individual's bedroom looks says a lot about the person that sleeps in it. How tidy the person is, the kind of things the person likes, the colour scheme chosen for the room, the style of the furniture... I could go on forever. The way this environment looks is extremely important, and I want to make sure it looks right, and fits the personality of the boy.

As it stands, I think the boy's personality is as follows. The boy is...

• Kind-hearted and generally has good morales
• Possessive (Finds it hard to share, possibly because he is an only child)
• Slightly spoilt
• Extremely imaginative (Is the story just his imagination?)
• Impulsive

And for the record, here's the personality of the monster character aswell...

• Cheeky, naughty, and likes to tease
• Very lonely
• Doesn't know how to make friends
• Rather unfamiliar with humans
• Stubborn
• Kind but misunderstood

Based on some of this information, I can start to form some concept art. I'm going to begin doing some concepts of the room. I have already started doodling the characters. I will upload these in a post soon.

I have opened a new Livestream accoount, which I will be using to film me as I work. If all goes well, I will be able to upload the videos of my development work on here to be viewed. I haven't done anything like this before, though so fingers crossed!

Here's a link: wackyw Livestream

Here's an attempt to upload my first Livestream session.

... And here's the rather sketchy image that can be seen in that video.


There's definitely room for improvement. This is meant to be an image representing the room BEFORE the lights are turned off. I forgot to add the glow coming from the rather blob-like lamp. I tried using the contrast colours blue and orange as much as possible. There isn't a lot of shadow work either. I guess this gives you an idea of what I'm going for though.

I've always imagined the shot to be facing to the right, as opposed to the left, though I may try different angles. I must make sure this room doesn't look too generic, so I will try lots of different things

This is my first attempt, so I'm hoping I can do the next few concepts with a lot more detail and awesomeness. I fail a bit at doing backgrounds. I prefer doing characters rather then BGs. However this is good practice, and I won't give up!

Research - Bedrooms

I figured this would be a good time to look at different children's bedrooms, and see if I can get any inspiration on how my character's bedroom should be styled. Here's some real life examples I found on Google images:

Photo 1: Nice contrast of green and red. Not sure about blind though. Train bed (?) is cute, but maybe too complex and distracting to the eye for my project. I want the focus to be the characters.

Photo 2: Very modern, maybe a little too angular. Doesn't give the nice homely atmosphere I'm looking for. Too neat. No colour either.

Photo 3: Again nice contrast of colours. Shapes all seem to work nicely here. Sloping in ceiling helps lead eye to pillow area. Reflection will help create creepy atmosphere? Maybe more toys added would help suggest this is definitely a kids room

Photo 4: Nice patterns. Having pictures extremely close to pillows makes that area feel very closed in. Good thing? Perhaps a bit to chaotic and busy, looking. Colour scheme not refined enough

Photo 5: I really like this one. Bed maybe too high. Fairly simple composition. Maybe could do with a little more character.

Photo 6: Another nice one, though I'm not sure whether I like the contrasting walls. Bit too much. Don't like the use of red that much either. Bed looks too much like a hospital bed too.


Photo 7: Not sure about the bunk bed. May over-complicate matters (animating boy going up and down). Ingenious climbing wall for getting into bed, though. Great idea. Kite reminds me of the evil clown bed from the Simpsons. Might look creepy at night time, which will be perfect for my idea!

Research - Stopit and Tidyup

"Stopit and Tidyup" is an animated series that appeared on the BBC channel during the late 80s. The company called CMTB Animation, led by the masterminds Charles Mills and Terry Brain, were behind the kids' program, and managed to create 13 episodes, each featuring a different sub character as the main plot for the short animation. Below is one of the 13 episodes they made.



The children's program featured many different monster characters that were named after phrases your parents would tell you as a child. Other names of characters include "Comb Your Hair", "Brush Your Teeth" and the big bad "I Said No!". The characters would take on a certain personality, depending on the names they were given. Let me use the two main characters as an example. Tidyup was rather level headed and well behaved, and would try to stabilize the other rather crazy monster characters. Stopit was a ball of energy that would often be rather naughty, often not knowing when to stop is silly antics.

Here's a nice illustration of all the characters by staceyw on DeviantArt, which can be found here!


I used to watch this program when I was very little, and it used to scare me a bit. The way some of the characters moved and the noises they made used to frighten me. However, I still enjoyed watching it, because of the colourful mix of different characters.

This animated kids program had many redeeming features. The narrator is none other than the great Terry Wogan, who adds a real flair to the kooky tales. Also, the cel-animated style is like no other animation series I have seen.

What Is A Monster?

When I was working on my previous post, I started thinking about how my monster should look. And then I suddenly realized that actually, no-one really has met a monster before. It is merely a concept thought up using our imaginations.

So, what is a monster?

I've given it some thought, and I have come up with some prime factors that most monsters have that defines them. I may be stating the obvious here, but I feel that it is necessary to write all this stuff down all the same. That way I can think about how these points should or shouldn't affect my monster character.

Here's a list of attributes that generally come together to make a monster:

1. A monster must have human characteristics. This means that the monster must vaguely resemble a person in some way. This could be the way it looks. For instance, the monster may stand on two legs, have two eyes, have a nose, etc. It could be the way in interacts with its environment. The monster might have emotions like empathy, jealousy, hatred, disgust... anything that requires a certain amount of understanding of others.
2. A monster must have hideous "unnatural" abnormalities. Although a monster may in some ways be a lot like a human, there has to be something grotesque about it that makes it stand out. Good examples of this can be seen in the film "Monsters vs Aliens". The main character Susan appears to look like a normal human, except she is abnormally tall and strong. The Missing Link has the mannerisms of a human, but has the features of a fish and a gorilla.
   
3. A monster must be scary. At the moment, think not about how scary the monster is. Most monsters make us feel a little uneasy. Even if the monster is very endearing (like Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch"), we still feel a little edgy about the being we are seeing. Some monsters like Stitch may seem kinda mean and scary to begin with, but the turn out to be really good-natured and misunderstood. Our first impression of a monster might be that it looks kinda sweet, but it acts in a really vile, terrifying way. It all depends on the personality and history of the character. Which leads me on to...
4. A monster must have a reason for it being the way it is. Why is it that monster has tentacles? Why is it that monster has two noses? Why is it that monster is able to fly without wings? Why is it that monster can't see? Is it because of an incident that caused it to be malformed? Is it because it has had to adapt to its environment? Is it because it was simply born that way? There is a reason for everything, and that applies to monsters too.
5. A monster must cause you to react in a certain way. Apart from the scariness of the monster, bumping into the critter will cause a positive or negative reaction. More often then not, the reaction will be negative. However, it may be that a character meeting the monster may befriend it. It depends on whether the monster is good or bad.
6. A monster must have strengths and weaknesses. Like all of us, monsters have to be good and bad at certain things. Say a human is trying to defeat a monster, there must be a way to defeat it to continue with the story. Also, if a monster has a chance of beating that human to a pulp, it must have powers that can make it seem like a difficult foe to vanquish. This could be physically, mentally, socially... it could be anything really. A monster could be very strong, but also be very thick. A monster could be clever, but also socially inept. A monster could have the gift of gab, but be incredibly weak and weedy. Again, this depends on what your character is like. If you think about "The Incredibles", the super heroes' powers reflect their personality. The same can also apply for monsters.

There's probably more I'd like to say on this subject, but for now I'll finish there.

In related news, I've just sent out a little questionnaire to some of my friends to see what they have to say about monsters. I want to know what their interpretation of them is. Here the e-mail I sent:


Hey guys!

I was wondering whether you could give me a hand, by answering a couple of things for me. Be as brief or elaborate with your answers as you feel necessary. Here they are:

1) Please give me your interpretation of what a monster is.

2) Is there a monster that used to scare you a lot as a child? Explain why.

3) Do you still find that monster scary? If so, why?

4) Is there a monster that you used to like a lot as a child? Explain why.

5) When you were a child, how did you cope if you got scared?

Hope this isn't too much trouble for you guys. Thanks!


Hopefully I'll get some good feedback! :D

Here's a funny video I found of a little girl talking about how she'd cope if faced with a monster!

Research - Monsters Inc

"If there was one thing we were sure of as kids - besides the fact that our toys came to life when we weren't around - it was that there were monsters in our closets, hiding among the shirts and dirty laundry, just waiting for the right moment to come out and scare the daylights out of us." - Pete Docter

One of the paths of research I decided to go down led me to that fun and humorous Pixar film, "Monsters Inc". My concept closely resembles the film - A child being visited by a monster in the middle of the night, a story which ends in friendship. This film is one of my favourites, so naturally I had a lot of fun looking into it for my project research.


The film stars two monsters who both work for a child-scaring monster corporation. Sully, the larger hairier character is the company's top scarer, who is actually a gentle giant when you get to know him better. Mike is his silly, small green friend who helps Sully with the tedious jobs that need to be done. They accidentally discover a little girl who has entered the monster world, and so try to conceal her from harm.

The parts of the film I want to concentrate my efforts on are the scenes within the rooms of the children that get visited by the monsters. The first scene in the film shows the training of a student monster in a fake child's bedroom scene created by the monsters. It gives the audience a clear depiction of what Monsters Inc is all about with clarity.

I want to study the way the Pixar Environment Designers cleverly assembled this scene, and find ways in which I can utilize some of Pixar's techniques for my own work.



The following two images show the contrast between the lit and unlit bedroom. To me, the light warm, yellowy colours represent the presence of the child's parents, and the security that they give to the child. The shadows naturally shy away from the light and away from the direction of the parents' voices. The imagery on the walls and the toys on the shelf are childish and colourful.

However, when the light is quenched, the shadows jump to the left and the colour is drained from the shot. It has become a lot more blue, which creates a nice stark contrast to the warm yellows and oranges from earlier.

I'd like to try and have a similar part in my story where the light, colours and shadows help change the atmosphere from comfort and warmth, to mysterious and slightly spooky.

Above is a wide upper shot of the scene, focusing on the bed. You can see that the only source of light is coming from the window to the right. The shadows are still all cast to the left. The scene is predominately made up of blue and washed out yellow colours. The bed, the doors, the curtain, and the skirting boards are whitish blue coloured. The skateboard stands out boldly in this scene, as if it is trying to point towards the right, where the monster will soon appear.

Ho' shi'!!! Yep that's a mighty scary shot! But what makes this so creepy? The fact that the monster is silhoutted by the lighting behind him contributes to the scare factor. You also have a fairly extreme close up of the boy's face, so you can see him slowly react to the terror awaiting him.

There is also a stark contrast of colour within the monster's eyes. Check out that reddish pinkish orange tint! The viewers would be drawn immediately to those fiery eyes of his!

So there you go. That's my analysis of this scene. However, I am nowhere finished. I would like to look at the designs of the monsters too. I have toyed with the idea of designing either a ghost or a monster to be the antagonist in my animation plan. Therefore, I should take a look at the design process Pixar went through to get to their final designs.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the Monsters Inc Art Book, but when I get back to college, I will try and find it, and use it to research the character design a bit more.

However, I will say this: Sully and Mike are more personified, so that we can relate to them more. They have contrasting colours (green and purple generally contrast really well) and are made to look kind and not too grotesque. I also read on this blog >>> Advanced Character Animation that Randall, the evil villain in the film, is made to look and act nothing like a human, and have more of a reptilian manner about him.

The shapes of the monsters also reflect the personality they have. Sully is kinda a sturdy square shape, where as Mike is a friendly round shape. Their silhouettes are easily recognized as well, because they are so different and unique.

So I need to think carefully about how I design my ghost/monster character. If I want my two main characters to get along, I should try and make them relate a lot to each other. I need to balance the contrasting and comparative elements of my character designs.

Everything starts from the beginning...

Hey there!

This blog is to show my development for my BA work this year. I have been thinking a lot about what I should pitch at college as a possible project idea. I have started to form an idea that I think I will progress with seriously in the next month or so.

Before I share my general concept with you, I would like to share a song with you first. Whenever I heard this song, a story formed in my head of what would happen.

It's called "1940" by The Submarines



My vision is that I would be able to reproduce this music for my project idea without the lyrics. I'd like it to have more of a childish edge to it. I don't want to copy this music completely, but I want to get a similar quirky atmosphere that this track gives.

The idea that I have come up with is as follows. I'll try and explain it as well as possible.

A happy boy goes to bed and snuggles to sleep with his favourite toy (Teddy probably. Perhaps a car, toy monster etc). However, a cheeky monster steals away his toy, awaking the boy from his slumber. The monster teases the boy and they wrestle for the teddy. The boy manages to retrieve the toy, but the monster becomes upset. He's a lonely monster. In the end, the boy lets the friendly monster play with his teddy when he's asleep at night. And at the end, (after or during credits, for example) the monster is asleep whilst the boy plays with his teddy during the day.

This isn't the final concept, but this gives you an idea of how the story goes.