Week 12

 

Week 10

 Scene 1 

Scene 3

Scene 5

Week 9

 Update: 

Scenes 1-4

- Lipsync for Sunny S1S1 

- Colour for Sunny S1S1 

- Background colour added to S1 and S2. 

- Timings edited (dialogue, teacher movement)

Week 8

 

Issue: Colour in Harmony

I've encountered an issue with Toon Boom Harmony. The colour I've applied to my film (as visible in the screen recording below) doesn't show up when I export or render the video clip. Any areas that contain colour show up as black. 

Screen Recording of Scene 1 Shot 1 - Coloured

This is what the colour should look like, as it appears in Harmony. 

Export Showing Colour Issue

When I exported the clip above, this is what it appeared as. 

Export with Lineart and Coloured Hands

I removed the colour (except on the hands, which I forgot), and kept only the lineart. We can see that the issue is not in the rest of the film, and only the colour is showing up as black. 

I've been colouring with harmony's vector drawing. One of my peers is drawing in the same way and her colour shows up, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. 

Week 7: Weekly

 https://youtu.be/Jbfq20iMGTI 

Experimentation: Teacher Walk Cycle

I've taken some time to properly realise this shot in Scene 2, in which the teacher is shown walking down the classroom handing back test papers. The angle is a bit odd, and I've been struggling to figure out the walk cycle. 

Animatic: Scene 2, Shot 2

Early walk cycle test 

My initial test of the walk cycle without any reference footage was not anatomically correct at all. The legs moved unnaturally and it looked awkward. Because of this, I took some reference footage to get a sense of the body position. 

Version 2 of keyframes

Using my initial round of reference footage, I created the above version. I was still not happy with it however. Through conversation with one of my peers, I found that the position of the feet and the timing of the actions wasn't as resolved as I wanted it to be. In the initial reference video, I didn't include the arm movements, so I struggled with timing the foot movements and the arm movements together. This resulted in a lot of trial and error, and no resolutions I was happy with. 

So I recorded another round of footage of myself performing the actions, this time handing out papers to desks and walking towards the camera. I rotoscoped some keyframes in Photoshop, which gave me a much better sense of the body's movements and interaction with its surroundings. 

Rotoscoped keyframes

Rotoscoped version

After testing various methods of animating this walk cycle, I'm much happier with the appearance at this stage. I think during cleanup some more development will take place. 

I've changed the character design slightly to include boots, as this reflects the reference footage I recorded. When trying to draw the ballet pumps on the character, it kept coming across as though the character was walking on their tiptoes. I will need more experience animating walk cycles and foot movement to better understand how to animate flat shoes. Due to my time constraints, I simply chose to change the character's outfit. In future, I would like to have the flexibility in my drawing ability to animate any type of shoes. 

Week 4 Sunday Reflection

 This last week I've attempted to keyframe as much of the film as possible. I've largely been focusing on Scenes 3 and 4. I've keyframed most of Scene 1 as well, but there are gaps which I need to fix. I have keyframed Scene 2 Shot 1, and I haven't started Scene 6 at all. 

I'd like to use this post to reflect on what I have made and establish my next steps for the next few days. I'm now behind schedule and need to adjust my timings. For my presentation on Tuesday, I need to consider, realistically, how much of the film I am able to complete with the remaining six weeks of term. 

If I can complete the first three or four scenes of the film, and leave scene 5 out, I could use the beginning as a trailer of sorts for the film. I could also use several shots throughout the film as parts of a showreel, considering that the first 30-60 seconds should hook my viewer for a showreel. 
I'd like to have the story completed. Perhaps I may need to consider how much detail I put into colouring and compositing the film, as these will likely take a long time. 

Scene 1: 

Animatic: 

Keyframing:

Tweening WIP: 

Currently, I'm happy overall with the shape of the character and the motions. Once I have the completed audio, I will be able to edit the timings of the scene. I think the interaction between Sunny and their mom happens too quickly, and I need more time for reactions. I also think Sunny isn't as expressive in this interaction as they could be. I need to experiment with exaggerated shapes and expressing anger. 

Also, their face hasn't been keyframed at all, but I have the version from the animatic for reference. This may change with the new audio track as well. 

Next steps: 

- Add facial expressions. 

- Complete audio track and lipsync. 

- Add more movement to Sunny's head. 

- Experiment with expressing anger (try exaggeration)

Scene 2: 

Animatic: 

Keyframing:

Currently all I have of scene two is this keyframed shot of Sunny sitting at their desk with their classmates moving around them. Sunny's foot should be tapping, I need to make this happen. Their classmate should also be moving their pen more. 

These sorts of changes should happen for the rest of the scene as well, with more activity in the background characters, compared to the animatic, which has them static. 
The framing and positioning of characters should remain largely the same as the animatic. 
Next steps: 
- Complete the scene
- Continue adding details to the scene 
- Add movement to background characters

Scene 3: 
Animatic: 

Keyframing:

So far all I have of Scene 3 is this shot, which I've keyframed and tweened a bit of the motion of the locker door closing. I'll need to figure out animating the locker door closing with all of the elements on it staying in position. 

Locker lineart for reference. 

I want the stickers and art on the locker door to remain in position as the door closes. Maybe I can do this in another program. I'll ask around from my peers if this is possible. Otherwise will dedicate some time to getting it right. 

Next steps: 

- Ask peers about animating the locker

- Finish the scene 

- Keyframe background characters in Scene 3 Shot 1 

Scene 4:

Animatic: 

Keyframing:

I've keyframed the bulk of scene 4. Some of the timings are a bit odd, and this will change with the new audio. I'm overall happy with the shape language. I do want June to be a bit more expressive with her body language. 

Next steps: 

- Add facial expressions

- Add to body language 

- Lip sync

- Finish the scene

Scene 5: 

Animatic: 

I've not done any keyframing yet for Scene 5. I'll need to flesh out the panic attack scene more thoroughly, as this will be my most experimental shot. I'm planning on animating this in different media (if I have time), such as pencil and watercolour. To do this, I'll need a clear plan of what to animate. 

Alternatively, I'll try using different brushes in Adobe Photoshop to create a similar effect. 

The rest of the scene is mostly straightforward, with the most complex shots being at the beginning and end, where Sunny and Alistair are moving around. The rest of the scene is mostly dialogue, so the animation will mostly be lipsync. I do want to pay attention to body language through this scene though, as it will be useful to visually communicate emotion. 

Next steps: 

- Keyframe the scene

- Plan out the panic attack scene fully 

------------------------------------------------

This exercise has allowed me to consider my progress as it stands and where I need to go from here. 

Recap of all next steps: 
Scene 1: 
- Add facial expressions. 
- Complete audio track and lipsync. 
- Add more movement to Sunny's head. 
- Experiment with expressing anger (try exaggeration)

Scene 2: 
- Complete the scene
- Continue adding details to the scene 
- Add movement to background characters

Scene 3: 

- Ask peers about animating the locker

- Finish the scene 

- Keyframe background characters in Scene 3 Shot 1 

Scene 4:
- Add facial expressions
- Add to body language 
- Lip sync
- Finish the scene

Scene 5: 
- Keyframe the scene
- Plan out the panic attack scene fully 

Character Sheet: Updated Look for June

New Character Sheet

 I've updated June's look to include some hair, and I've changed the colour of her bandana. During the animation process, I've found that drawing June's hair wrap was more challenging than needed, and it wasn't looking very appealing. By putting her hair down, I've got some more substance to work with when drawing her to make her look visually appealing. I've also brought some yellow into her look through the bandana to add to the warm and cheerful personality I wish to convey. The rest of her outfit remains much the same as in the original character sheet (below). 

Old Character Sheet

Production Schedule and Shot List

 Shot List

Production Schedule

Week 4 Check In

 Over the last few weeks I've been occupied by my dissertation, but I've been developing my film in bits and pieces. 

Scene 1 Shot 1 keyframing rough:

Test with background lineart:

Scene 2 Shot 1 - Rough Keyframing

Scene 3 Shot 2 timing test - too fast! 

Scene 3 Shot 2 adjusted timing

Scene 3 Shot 2 - extended and timing adjusted 

Animatic: Final Version

 I've completed my animatic! There's still some inconsistencies with the shading, and the audio could probably use another edit, but these are things that will get changed in the actual animation process anyway. This animatic will help me greatly in the animation process with understanding what motion, timing and keyframes are needed. I'm excited to use this as reference while making my film. 

Script: Updates

During the development of my animatic, I've made some changes to the script, including the addition of an interaction between Sunny and Alistair in which they share their pronouns with each other and talk about Sunny being misgendered at school. 
I've removed the lines from the teacher, they didn't feel relevant and would have required an additional voice actor. 
I've also adjusted the interactions between June and Alistair, and Alistair and Sunny in Scenes 4 and 5. 

With this version of the script, I feel like the story captures the feelings I want it to evoke. I previously had some worries about sending the script to my voice actors and not achieving the right mood or feeling from the film. I feel this version captures the essence and I feel ready to source my voice actors now. 

Work In Progress: Animatic 2.0

Here's my current draft of my animatic. See last version here. 
Since the last version, I have rerecorded the audio, edited the timings of interactions, added more updated drawings, changed the camera angles in Scene 3, and made some other tweaks. I still need to finish updating the drawings in scenes 1 and 2, add sound effects and music, and flesh out the panic attack in Scene 5 further. However, the animatic is over a minute shorter than its previous version and it flows better than it did before. I've changed Scene 4 considerably and I feel like it's much more resolved now. I'm looking forward to working with the audio from other voice actors so that there's more variation and contrast in the voices - I'm not able to achieve much variation just using my own voice.
Once I've finished updating the drawings, I'll see if I have time to shade everything, but the animatic might be partially shaded, partially lineart. This is fine though, as the shading was largely an exercise to see how characters interact with backgrounds, and give me some insight into creating the backgrounds themselves. 

Animatic 2.0 (20/03/2022 Version)

(Here's a playlist version of each scene as invidual videos)

Experimentation: Colour and Lineart for Environments

In developing my environments for my film, I'm thinking about how I will approach colouring the backgrounds. I did a small test on a section of the background for Alistair's room in different styles of colouring and shading to get a feel for how it would look in the rest of the shot. 
Here's the full image I'm working from: 

Lineart of Alistair's room

I've chosen a section of this piece to experiment with colour and lighting to test how the rest of the piece will look. This will also inform the style and palette I use for colouring and shading the rest of the backgrounds in Alistair's room, and the style for other environments for the film. 

Lineart

Monochrome test in green with plant and light details

Monochrome test in yellow with light details

Colour test using colours based on colour script - adjusted

Colour and lighting test using colours from script and coloured lineart

Looking at the final test in the context of the whole space

I like how the final test with coloured lineart looks up close, but I'm not sure if it's going to lose its impact if the whole background is done in this style. Looking back to this piece below from Steven Universe, I'm considering how coloured lineart can be used strategically in direct sunlight, while maintaining darker lineart in the rest of the piece. 

Background from Cartoon Network's Steven Universe

I want my work to evoke the same gentle, warm effect that this piece captures so well. I'll need to keep experimenting.

Experimentation: Representing Anxiety/Panic Attacks

 I'm experimenting with an idea of showing my protagonist's slow build-up to the panic attack that they have in the film through the use of deconstructed shapes. I started with this gif testing the idea to see how it would look in colour. 

I then tried this idea out in my animatic, taking it further and having the shapes start to swirl around, representing the swirling thoughts that would happen in this state. 

Test of these deconstructed shapes in Scene 6 when Sunny has a panic attack

Following this, I tested using this method earlier on in my film, whenever Sunny is experiencing stress/anxiety/anger, they start to slip into this state. I tried using it only on the mirrored version of them at first, though I'm unsure if this would be inconsistent because it doesn't only manifest in reflections later on. 

Test of deconstructed shapes in Scene 1 after Sunny fights with their mom

Animatic 2.0 (7/03/2022)

 Here's an in-progress look at my animatic with the shaded backgrounds I've been creating, with edited script and timing. 
I've added some lines to the script and experimented with shading the shots in the to get a sense of how they will look when animated. 

Character Sheet: Teacher

 In my initial development of the film, I had only included a small glimpse of the teacher in the animatic. As I've been working on my Animatic 2.0, I've realised I will be showing the teacher in full onscreen, so I created a character sheet for her. 

I've coloured her in blue to match the rest of the classroom in my colour script (seen below), showing the classroom as a place of restriction and discomfort for Sunny, whose yellow shines in stark contrast. 

Progress: Shaded Shots for Animatic

For my animatic 2.0 I have created some greyscale shaded environments with characters in them to get a sense of the scale, shape language and tone of each shot in my film. So far I have all of Scenes 2 and 3 completed, and backgrounds for Scene 4.  

 

Research: Panic Attacks in Animation

Content warning: the media below includes themes of mental illness, panic attacks and self harm.

My film features a panic attack experienced by the protagonist Sunny. They are overwhelmed by being misgendered at home and school and their difficulty with their school work. In my animatic I have depicted the animatic with an experimental animation style, using messy lines and odd shapes to represent the loss of control and normality in that state. I've had a look at how panic attacks have been represented in other animated media to get some ideas about how to best represent it in my film. 

Cindy J. Aaronson, What causes panic attacks, and how can you prevent them?, 2020

The video above uses inverted colours to visualise the feelings of confusion or unreality during the moment of a panic attack.

illymation, Panic Attacks, 2019

This video uses swirling colours to represent the confusion and cyclical thoughts during a panic attack. 

Karla Monterrosa, 18 years old and I think I'm having a heart attack, 2018

This video uses a flashing array of objects, shapes and colours to represent the racing thoughts of a panic attack. 

All of these animated videos use the medium of animation to represent feelings that are difficult to otherwise represent visually. The each use different techniques to capture the feelings of confusion and uncertainty that accompany anxiety and panic attacks, such as inverted colours, swirling colours and shifting shapes. 
In my own work, I am experimenting with how I can represent these feelings in my character to represent what they are feeling. 

Experimentation: Developing my animatic

In developing my animatic, I am using reference images to ensure that the perspective on my environments is geometrically correct, and that object interact with each other in a logical way. Through this process I am learning about perspective and scale. 

I'm currently working on Shot 2 of Scene 2 of my film, showing a view of the classroom. Here's my progression from initial sketches to my final animatic version. 

Storyboard sketch

Storyboard

Animatic 1.0

3D environment using an app

Animatic 2.0

References:

 3D environment from Floor Plan Creator app on Android

Chair reference image from https://vintage-industrial-furniture.co.uk/en/shop/vintageindustrialseating/vintagechairs/item/oldschoolchairs/.