Basics

So I haven't been doing much work on the project specifically, because I felt like I needed to dive into the basics a little more thoroughly. After searching the internet quite extensively, I stumbled onto two websites that have been somewhat of a jumpstart in the basics of animation. Bare in mind that these are more in line with traditional animation techniques, but I don't see that as being important.

The first is a animation classroom type blog by John Kricfalusi, called John K Curriculum. This blog is awesome. It is very informative, as is his main animation blog, John K Stuff. Be warned, he is quite passionately opinionated, but there isn't anything wrong with passion for your field. Opinions about the state of modern animation and Disney aside, his blogs are gold, so check them out.

The other is called Drawing for Classical Animation over on Karmatoons. This tutorial series is also brilliant. It gives a really good grounding in animation drawing, and gets you in the right mind frame for creating animation characters. I will admit that it a bit basic, but then that is what I need at the moment. If you go over to Flooby Nooby, which is another great site, you should be able to download a pdf with all of the Karmatoons tutorial in one download. While you are there, check out the other stuff they have on offer.

If anyone else has any good links, please feel free to post them in the comments. I am always on the lookout for good content.

Story time...

I was going to post another character design, but I think I should probably outline the story, just so it makes more sense.

• 2 Uncles are teaching golf to their niece.
• One man is all about strength, he thinks forcing it is the solution to any problem. However, this tends to cause the ball to go all over the place.
• The other man is extremely cautious, fearful and overly anxious. His solution to problems is to over analyze, minimize risk and go slow and carefully, which results in a straight shot but no power.
• The little girl, faced with two conflicting approaches attempts to imitate both and gets frustrated with inevitably poor results.
• This is when they come across the old duffer. He is teeing off, doing his wacky swing, oblivious to the fact that the uncles are laughing there asses off at him. He is content to do his own thing. The little girl watches on without judgement.
• When the old duffer's shot lands inches from the hole, the uncles are shocked.
• The last scene will be of the girl, imitating the old duffer and finally getting some decent results. Then the camera will pan to the two uncles, also imitating the old duffer swing.

This little summary would probably count as the first step in pre-production. I have nailed down an idea, and given a brief synopsis of the story/film. My next step was visual development and scripting, although because "Duffers" is dialogue free, scripting in the traditional sense isn't as important, particularly since I am working alone. If I was working with others, then I definitely would have done a more detailed script, but making sure to focus on action first, then dialogue.

However, I did come up with a visual equivalent of a script by drawing up a set of quick thumbnails sketches that outlined the scenes and action. I should point out that at this stage, the sketches do not need to be in order, mine weren't, it was more about getting the ideas on the page. For example I had the old duffer tee off done first, then drew a scene where a bird is getting cleaned up by the strong man's loose ball. The idea is to keep everything flexible, don't get tied down, you can always change stuff, that is what pre-production is about. It seems easier by far to change a sketch then it does a cleaned up animation scene, so for the visual development stage, keep an open mind.

Now it seems to me that either one of these approaches could have been worked on first, script or visual development, and I guess if you are working alone, the choice would be up to you. Whichever approach helps you to visualize the scenes and action then that is what you should try first. Personally I have always found it a bit of struggle to do sequence drawings, mainly because I worried too much about how they would look, but for some reason it was actually pretty easy this time because I knew that it didn't really matter what it looked like. These sketches were for me, and as long as I understood them, that was enough.

Recap:

• Pre-production
• Idea
• Synopsis
• Script/Visual Development

Next stage would probably be character design and layout, but that is for another post.

 

Jumping Off Point...

So this is the "Old Duffer". He is a character I designed a few months back and is the inspiration for my first animation. Originally I was just going to do an animation of him swinging his club, pretty basic really, but it wasn't long before a story developed, with three other characters involved. Ultimately this seems very ambitious, but I like a challenge, plus if I screw it up, I can always redo it again later on down the track. I realize that there are still some design issues with this guy, but for the moment, at least for a starting point, I am happy with it.

Old Duffer

Old Duffer:

• Calm and easy going old rascal
• Learned long ago that it is better to go with the flow
• Does his own thing, his own way, regardless of what people think
• Wacky swing that prompts laughter, but never fails to get him close to the hole
• The oblivious guru type character

Boilerplate Stuff...

Just a quickie here, nothing special. Wanted to say hello, put it out there. Don't want to say much, just a few quick points:

1. I am a self learning student who has never done any animation. (Don't expect miracles, that is not what this blog is about)
2. I am learning to use Flash. This is just for now, if I like the direction things are going, I will probably invest in something like ToonBoom Animate 2.
3. Before animation, I have been learning about concept design and illustration, but even here I am a student, so if you think my drawings and stuff are crap, refer to first point. (However, I don't mind constructive criticism)
4. I will post as frequently as possible but be aware that this blog is more about me and my learning process so if the posting is sporadic, this is because I can be a bit of a lazy ass. Having said that, I wanted to do this blog because I am hoping it will keep me more focused.
5. This blog is about my journey to learn animation, mainly 2D animation, and a bit of illustration/concept design/digital art as well. This will mean projects, notes, things I have learned, and links to content online that has either helped me or is inspirational. (However don't be surprised if I go off topic from time to time)
6. So finally, it might be better to think of this blog more like a personal journal, I will likely post comments and observations, things that spark my interest as well as lessons learned. Summary - more for me than for anyone else.

So that is about it, probably more than I intended to say but I think I have covered everything. The next post will probably be better. No guarantees though...