Tried to Go Rogue

In my last post, I mentioned I was animating my old bionicles for fun.  Well, here are a couple of clips I animated purely for that reason.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't entirely just for fun.  I was experimenting to see how well these types of toys could be animated.  In the top video, the character's feet slide around a lot.  This led me to the conclusion that such toys require tie downs if you don't want that to happen.  The bottom video was an experiment to see how well the green screen can work.  Unfortunately, the toys reflect the green screen, so you would either have to manually "clean up" all the green reflections one frame at a time or animate on a real set.  This became very evident when I was putting together the animation below.

Unfortunately, there was too much green spill on this toy.  To make the video look better for YouTube however, I simply tinted the video blue and added white noise (to make it look like a Star Wars security hologram).

So what was the purpose of all this experimentation?  For the longest time, I wanted to make a Star Wars fan film.  However, I wasn't sure what topic or story to cover in the Star Wars Universe.  Then The Force Awakens was released a year ago.  Personally, I was a little disappointed with the fact that it felt more like a remake despite it being an enjoyable film overall.  I was also disappointed with Fynn's character and his defection to the rebels (oops, I mean resistance).  I felt his character and that situation could have been explored more in the movie (most likely they will in eps. 8 and 9).

Well, I now have at least a story idea.  However, I'm not that good at model making or puppet builds, and I can't afford someone else to make that stuff for me.  Then I find out that Lego has released buildable figures featuring characters from the movie.  The best looking one happens to be the First Order Stormtrooper.  So, I bought it for experimentation.

Nice, sure there are limitations, but it still animates rather nicely once you know what those limitations are.  Okay, but one of the real challenges is to see if you can make the character walk...

The video above features a small tie down table with predrilled holes.  It looks like animating a walk with these figures is possible.  Coincidentally, the star wars website announced a contest that asked participants to make a video related to the new movie Rogue One.  Suddenly I came up with a very simple and plausible idea in order to meet the deadline.  I had three weeks to make the film.  The following video was my entry for the contest.

   

Unfortunately, the website for the contest would not upload my video file.  I followed all the technical recommendations, and I know it wasn't my internet connection because the video had no problem uploading on YouTube.  At first I was disappointed and angry, but now I am over it.  The main reason I made this was to challenge myself as a film maker and animator.

I'm actually rather proud at what I did.  I like how the set turned out.  There are a couple of pieces of animation that didn't satisfy me, but overall I like it.  The lighting is satisfying, but at the same time disappointing.  On one hand, everything only has one shadow, simulating one sun in the outdoors of the planet.  On the other hand, there is a visible hot spot from a light on the set that is clearly visible in the long shots and couple of the medium ones as well.

Close up of set floor with lego tie down.

Tie down poking through the table, a layer of white clay, and a layer of kinetic sand.

A view from underneath.

Tie down easily snaps into the foot of the toy.

Palm tree with wire armature (see "roots") with paper bark and card stock leaves.

The hill for the back ground.  The "roots" help keep trees in place.

The set up for the last shot.  This is one of those times when my engineering education comes in handy.  I adapted my rig to hold the tree trunk at the right distance away from the set.

This egotistical nerf herder thought it be funny to take a selfie at the end of production.

I feel I have really grown a lot as a film maker these past couple weeks.  I also managed to make my first official Star Wars fan film.  I can't wait to work on the film I have planned which would take place between episode 7 and 8.  For now however, I must get back to other projects...

For Soil, I'm still experimenting with materials to animate.  As expressed in other posts, I'm still trying to achieve a unique texture for each character.  I have three of the characters figured out, so I have just one more to go really.  I might even start building the puppets soon.  I'm also cleaning out a garage on my parents' property, so I can have more space to animate, and to create bigger sets.

I'm also working on a couple of cartoons, but I'll give that update on another blog in another post.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you!

Celebrating 10 Years of Animatng

Woohoo!  It has been a wonderful 10 years!  Back in August of 2006, my dad and I did our first animation together.  It was a bionicle walking across the table and aiming his weapons at the camera.  The animation was about seven seconds and ran at 5 fps.  At the time, we were using a camcorder that could only capture six frames at a time with a rate of 30 fps.  Every week after church on Sunday, my dad and I would animate together coming up with new stories and characters.  It was because of this that I called my animation studio Father and Son Studios.  Now I animate by myself, but still with the loving support of both my parents.

I celebrate with my new animation reel showing my latest work:

Additionally, I was feeling some major nostalgia while looking back.  As odd as it may seem, I have kept at least a few of my bionicles, so I decided to animate them again.  I started with a figure from the same toy line of the one in my very first animation.

I'm actually rather proud that I was able to create the illusion of weight for his plastic gun.    There is a slight jitter on the left hand side of the screen.  That's me digitally covering up my reflection that was in the window in the background.  As implied, I plan to animate more of my old bionicles, mainly just for fun.  If these short videos become popular, I may be convinced to make a larger project featuring these old toys.  I might even make animations featuring new ones.

On top of all this, Laika also celebrated their tenth anniversary.  They are the amazing studio that has produced Coraline, Paranorman, and Boxtrolls.  Just today I watched their latest film Kubo and the Two Strings.  Although, the story is a little predictable, I highly recommend it.  It's essentially a hero's journey told in the setting of ancient Japan.  It's amazing how they keep pushing the boundaries of stop motion.  The film is so beautiful and surpasses their past films in the technique.  Such a wonder film to behold!

As for my soil project, I'm still experimenting with puppet building materials.  However, I'm getting close to solving some major problems.  I can feel it.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you!

Clay Cannon!

In case it hasn't been clear in the last couple of posts, I like to multi task.  I am trying to get production started on my film Soil, but came at a temporary road block.  At the moment I am working on puppet build and experimental animation (like my kinetic sand tests in the last post).  Meanwhile, I have also been developing a 2D animated cartoon about candles.  Between these two serious projects, sometimes you have to take a break and have some fun.

The Animate Clay website posted a new challenge for the month.  Back in December 2015 I made the film Constellation for their space topic.  I also did one for the month of March 2016 featuring a dinosaur having a nightmare.  I actually won that month and received a prize.

This time the topic was "Impact."  After rolling around a couple of ideas in my head, I decided on the clay cannon.  When I was in Boy Scouts, we took a trip to Gettysburg, PA to learn about the Civil War.  As a souvenir, my dad and I picked up a model cannon from the gift shop.  For years I wanted to feature it in a piece of animation.  Now that dream has come true.  I hope you enjoy the cannon that fires clay cannon balls.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you.

Kinetic Sand Experiments

The video in this post contains the first pieces of experimental animation for my project Soil.  I'm starting with the soil by the way side.  Each character in the film will have their own texture to set them apart from the others.  Not all the characters will be made out of clay.  Upon reading the parable in the gospels, I imagined a dirt path that can lead to the three other soils.  I figured the closest material I can use is sand.  However, I needed to make a figure that was pose-able, so I decided to experiment with Kinetic Sand.

Unfortunately, the material has proved to be difficult to use.  To make an animate-able character, I made a clay figure and covered it with the kinetic sand.  It clings easily to itself and the clay, so it doesn't collapse as easily.  However, it still falls off the figure while being animated.  The material might be better suited for set pieces.  I think I'll need to search for another material to get better results.  There is a more viscous sand made by the same company, so I think I'll try it to see if it works any better.

In other news, I now have a full time job, so I can pay my bills and stuff.  Yeah.  Unfortunately, this means less time for films, but I'm going to try to devote as much of my free time as possible.  I may also use more of my time for my candle film Enlightenment.  I recently came up with more ideas for the characters and the story, and I want to make more progress for that film.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you!

Soil

After the December animateclay challenge, I got right to work on my next big project.  This one will not feature Mr. Weebee.  This is a project I've been wanting to work on for a long time, and I feel this may be the right time to get started.  The story is very simple as well as the setting.  My next film is an adaptation for the soil parable from the New Testament (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8).

For those who do not know, the parable is about the different types of people who receive the gospel represented by each type of soil.  The gospel is represented by seeds.  Each soil responds to the seeds in a different way.  The soil by the way side outright rejects the gospel, and a bird takes the seed away.  The bird is suppose to represent Satan.  The rocky (shallow) soil accepts it with joy, but eventually gives up under dry conditions (symbolism for persecution and trials).  The thorny soil does the same as the rocky soil, but ends up getting caught up with the riches of the world (the thorns) which choke the gospel seed.  The last soil is good and accepts the seed without giving up.  It eventually produces a bountiful crop.

I got the idea around 2013 when I thought of personifying the seed and having him learn how to grow based on examples he sees on the other soils.  At that instant, I decided to make it a cartoon.  Then I learned that all the soils were suppose to be personified in the story and that the seed represents the gospel.  That's when I changed my mind to make it in stop motion since the earthy quality of the characters lends itself to this form of animation.  While attending college and working on Mr. Weebee, the idea bounced around in my head and I thought of unique way to tell the story.  I started by drawing out the different characters.

Soil by the Wayside Concept Drawings

Rocky Soil Concept Drawings

Thorny Soil Concept Drawings

Good Soil Concept Drawings

I will discuss each character in detail in future posts.  I wrote the storyboard as I was developing the behavior of each individual soil.  What's great is the fact that the story has four separated sections, so I can shoot most of this film in chronological order.  I also followed one major rule, no narration or voice over of any kind.  There may not even be sound effects, only music.  Not only would this save me work, but I think it'll also be more poetic.  Other videos on YouTube that tell the story typically have narration which reads directly from the bible.  This is fine as an instructional tool, but in terms of artistry I don't find it really creative, especially since films are suppose to rely more on visuals.  I'm not making a video that does the pastor's job.  I'm making a film that looks at a story in a new way.

Just recently, I finished the animatic for the film.  I'm going to send it to some friends for feedback.  While this is happening, I'm going to start building characters and doing experimental animation.  I really hope this project works out.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you!

Constellation

Lately my life has been a little chaotic.  Many preparations had to be done to my parents' house for the holidays.  However, I still found time to work on a little short film called Constellation.  Every month the website animateclay.com (a stop motion community online) posts a fun competition where the theme is picked by the winner of the previous month.  Because the new Star Wars movie was coming out, the theme picked was Space.  I thought about it, but I didn't want to do anything too complicated.  Then an idea for a very simple story line with a simple approach to animation gave me the assurance that I could finish something half decent in time for the deadline.

One of the most fascinating topics I have ever learned was the concept of stellar evolution, a process that describes how stars go from one stage to another.  The story of a young star finding his place in the universe became the basic premise.  I drew up some story boards and realized the best way to simplify production was to use 2.5 D animation.  In other words, I was animating clay characters that were as flat as cookies.  The technique is very similar to cut out animation.  Once I figured out the story, I did some animation testing for faces and I also wanted to see if I could get some decent green screen effects.

Recently, I have been rereading The Animator's Survival Kit  which was written by Richard Williams.  The section on drawing breakdowns especially provided insight on how to create interesting animation in the face.  You see, in traditional animation key poses are drawn, and then a drawing in the middle dictates how the movement will look.  This is called the breakdown.  Choosing a proper breakdown will add more life to a scene.  Instead of going from a smile to a frown directly the expression in the middle can be something other than a face with a straight line for a mouth.  Obviously, this doesn't apply all the time.  Sometimes you need to go directly in the middle.  As I stood over my camera, I did the best I could to know when to apply this principle properly.  The result is facial animation that has real life.  I am really proud how this film turned out.

I also did my best to follow my own rules.  Mostly all the characters stay in the same relative space unless something more powerful knocks them out of their spot.

The nebulae is made out of pillow stuffing colored by markers.  The stars in the background are copies of a small clay model in different positions that were scanned directly into the computer.  For the mouths, I used replacements and added flexibility to them by stretching the lips to better transition from one mouth to another.  I used a little bit of focal blur to give an impression to depth,and to also help the audience focus on the main characters.  The highlight effects are bright colored blobs that were blurred out and given transparency.

Typically when people speak of the cosmos, they talk about being part of a bigger picture, so the concept of the constellation really nailed this film.  To further cement it, I added the bible verse at the end.  It's probably one of those few space films that combines some science and religion.  My only regret is that I didn't incorporate a black hole.  It could have made an excellent climax.  If I ever get a chance to make a film like this again, I would do it.

Thanks again for reading and may God bless you!

The Bake Sale Thief is Here!

Wow, my last post was back in January.  Time flies when you animate, graduate college, job search, work, go to church, and buy a car (aka having fun).  Yes, much has happened in my life for the past year.  Although I am proud of my accomplishment for receiving my bachelors of science in mechanical engineering, I unfortunately didn't have a job upon graduation like most of my friends.  However, I continue to cling to God and allow him to direct my life.  Believe me, that's not easy.

Part of the reason this film took so long to complete was because I sunk into a depression after I graduated.  On top of not having an engineering job, I also got my recently purchased car rear ended in Morgantown.  During that time, I struggled with my faith, but eventually came around when I started listening to God through His inspiring words in the bible.  When I started putting my trust back in God again, I got more involved with my local church.  I always felt God was calling me to the children's ministry, so I volunteered to help the youth memorize bible verses.

As my faith was growing, I decided to get back into animating.  I actually considered to abandon this film and start something fresh and new.  However, I watched the animation I had already completed during my last semester at college (the first two minutes of the film).  I really liked the animation, and I realized I came too far to simply abandon the project.  After praying about it, I decided to finish the film.  Once I animated a few shots, a new feeling of excitement was filling inside of me.  My passion for this medium was reignited.

Sections of the film were rewritten to allow the story to flow better and to simplify the animation.  The next five minutes were then completed.  Special effects were applied, sound was added, and music brought the film to a new level.  I'm so pleased with the final result!  I think it could provide a wonderful opportunity to show other people what Jesus meant when he said love your enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Although I'm proud of the result, I'll admit the film does have some flaws.  There is a filming discontinuity because some of the shots were done out of sequence and I didn't properly keep track of a minor detail.  The sound is also not the best, but hopefully most won't notice my amateur efforts.  What I really am proud of is the animation.  I think it's some of the best I have ever done because I really got into the heads of the characters to help determine what actions they would do in certain moments of the film.  I also felt I took full advantage of using the camera to tell the story.  Every shot was thought out to support the overall narrative.

Yeah, it's not perfect, but I am very proud of it.  I feel confident people will be very entertained when they see it.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you!