I'd consider this the most exciting yet most daunting project yet- but so far I'm finding the pressure motivating and encouraging! For our external project, D.C. Thomson the creators of the Beano, Dandy, and most British kids' childhoods- have contacted us to create a 45-60 second animation which brings their retired characters back to the modern audience. From the list of characters they have supplied, I have picked Big Eggo- the original cover star of the Beano. I feel that his character can be done justice and that animating him would be an exciting and interesting task. I'd also somehow like him to be an extension of my character Derek the Swan, and include 3D somehow through this previously created model.
As I have now have a final animatic, I am able to get in contact with composers to gain their insight into how it should sound.
Animatic_Sound_Summative from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
I then began to animate from the animatic and feedback from the DC Thomson team. I tried to include more charm and references to the original comics and characters. I used Photoshop to create the rough animation in a majority pose-to-pose method (some scenes, such as the rugby ball throw and catch used a straight ahead method). Over the next few weeks, I followed my proposed timetable, but with the deadline changing from December to February I had amended the plans to have most of the rough animation done by the December deadline. I have met this deadline, but left some scenes that have more movement for over the winter break.
Big Eggo Rough Animation from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
For many of the scenes I am happy with how the characters move and interract with their environments, but I am planning to rework several scenes over the winter break to improve their clarity, such as the final scene with the wink. From Alan's advice about characterising Eggo, I decided to remove the final wink as it confused audiences about whether he was a cheeky or a stupid character. I decided to go for the latter as it made him seem less malicious and more lovable and silly, and so audiences (especially children) would root for him more.
Throughout the second semester I continued to work on the rough animation, and then cleanup. Upon completing the rough animation and line work, I then used a new method of colouring in order to speed up the process. Though I found it more time consuming at first, it helped in the long run if I needed to swap or update any colour palettes. It also helped that the program After Effects was able to predict and learn which colours were needed in certain areas, which sped up the process as it went along.
Overall I am happy with the quality of the final film. I was able to meet with the composer, Joseph Stevenson, in order to update the soundtrack by swapping out the saxophone for a trombone to emphasise the heaviness of the rugby players, which felt like the sound added more weight to them. The soundtrack complimented the movement of the animation and added comedy to the narrative. I'm glad that the client also liked the final film.
After our brief with Craig from Beano Studios, I initially was unsure which direction to take this project. I began by sketching out and developing multiple characters which had been listed, and see how I'd feel with them. I eventually set on developing Eggo's style and character, and played around with different art styles.
After settling with a rough idea of what Eggo would look like, I tried to define his personality in three words. From my research Big Eggo seemed to be a blank slate, but I tried to show a new character through his facial and body expressions.
His determination to reach his goal, his egg, reminded me of the character Scrat from the Ice Age series, and so I decided to take an exaggerated slapstick approach to his story, a comedic style that would resonate well with younger audiences, as well as being fast and dynamic for my own animation.
I then created thumbnail storyboard that would aid me in showing the plot in the practice pitch, which took place the week before the final pitch. Taking the fact that a rugby ball is egg shaped (plus my own interest in rugby) I created a story which was approved by the rest of the course and Nichola. From the discussion and advice they gave me, I tweaked my story to make more sense, as well as reconsider my animation technique.
Big Eggo Walk Cycle Test from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
In order to experiment with animating in a 2D style, I created some walk/run cycles of Big Eggo. This allowed me to gain an understanding how his knees and legs articulated, as well as add a more 'rubberhose' style to his neck movement.
Big Eggo Walk Cycle Test from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
In order to experiment with animating in a 2D style, I created some walk/run cycles of Big Eggo. This allowed me to gain an understanding how his knees and legs articulated, as well as add a more 'rubberhose' style to his neck movement.
From the pitch I gained valuable feedback regarding my story, characters and presentation. I was advised to create a 'moment' in which Eggo 'spots the ball and the viewer really understands he believes its an egg'. I decided that my initial idea of his eyes turning into eggs may not have been obvious enough, so thought of new ways of snapping his gaze onto the ball with his head and neck, in order to make it more lively and animated. Another thing that was overlooked was the fact that many of the audience members probably have never seen Eggo before, and wouldn't know why exactly he wanted the egg - so I have thought of a flashback idea for him to visualise what he'd do with the egg. (sit on it, but making the scene more overdramatic and comedic). However, during my final storyboard, I was able to check with many people who didn't know who this character was, and they found that to make it too obvious was almost patronising to the audience, and so it was removed.
I also finalised all the character designs, including those of the rugby team players' turnarounds. In order to save time, the bodies of the players would be identical but with a slight variation of skin tone and hairstyle to keep them distinct. I experimented with multiple colour schemes to think about how they'd stand out from the environment and whether they'd be visually appealing, and decided to go for the red and black kit for the final team colours as they would be distinct from the green tones of the grass as well as be a reference to many Beano character designs, such as Dennis the Menace and Minne the Minx. From those final designs I then began to think about how they would move as they ran. After reflecting upon a run cycle, I decided I needed to make their movements more 'heavy' to emphasise their strength and power.
Rugby Run Test from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
My final animatic used backgrounds rendered from Maya as I wanted to incorporate some sort of 3D into this project, but did not have any final textures or shaders in place. An advantage of creating a 3D environment was that I would not have to draw or animate the background multiple times, allowing consistency between shots and more accurate proportions.
Big Eggo Animatic from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
I also finalised all the character designs, including those of the rugby team players' turnarounds. In order to save time, the bodies of the players would be identical but with a slight variation of skin tone and hairstyle to keep them distinct. I experimented with multiple colour schemes to think about how they'd stand out from the environment and whether they'd be visually appealing, and decided to go for the red and black kit for the final team colours as they would be distinct from the green tones of the grass as well as be a reference to many Beano character designs, such as Dennis the Menace and Minne the Minx. From those final designs I then began to think about how they would move as they ran. After reflecting upon a run cycle, I decided I needed to make their movements more 'heavy' to emphasise their strength and power.
Rugby Run Test from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
My final animatic used backgrounds rendered from Maya as I wanted to incorporate some sort of 3D into this project, but did not have any final textures or shaders in place. An advantage of creating a 3D environment was that I would not have to draw or animate the background multiple times, allowing consistency between shots and more accurate proportions.
Overall view of the pitch/stands
View from one of the stands
As I have now have a final animatic, I am able to get in contact with composers to gain their insight into how it should sound.
Animatic_Sound_Summative from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
I then began to animate from the animatic and feedback from the DC Thomson team. I tried to include more charm and references to the original comics and characters. I used Photoshop to create the rough animation in a majority pose-to-pose method (some scenes, such as the rugby ball throw and catch used a straight ahead method). Over the next few weeks, I followed my proposed timetable, but with the deadline changing from December to February I had amended the plans to have most of the rough animation done by the December deadline. I have met this deadline, but left some scenes that have more movement for over the winter break.
Big Eggo Rough Animation from Eva Stanistreet on Vimeo.
For many of the scenes I am happy with how the characters move and interract with their environments, but I am planning to rework several scenes over the winter break to improve their clarity, such as the final scene with the wink. From Alan's advice about characterising Eggo, I decided to remove the final wink as it confused audiences about whether he was a cheeky or a stupid character. I decided to go for the latter as it made him seem less malicious and more lovable and silly, and so audiences (especially children) would root for him more.
Throughout the second semester I continued to work on the rough animation, and then cleanup. Upon completing the rough animation and line work, I then used a new method of colouring in order to speed up the process. Though I found it more time consuming at first, it helped in the long run if I needed to swap or update any colour palettes. It also helped that the program After Effects was able to predict and learn which colours were needed in certain areas, which sped up the process as it went along.
Overall I am happy with the quality of the final film. I was able to meet with the composer, Joseph Stevenson, in order to update the soundtrack by swapping out the saxophone for a trombone to emphasise the heaviness of the rugby players, which felt like the sound added more weight to them. The soundtrack complimented the movement of the animation and added comedy to the narrative. I'm glad that the client also liked the final film.
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