Quick Links:
Animation Laws
Westerns
Characters
Guns
Sketch Book
3DS Max
CGI Shorts
This section shows my research and preliminary investigations into the project.
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John Lasseter, currently the head of Pixar, published a document in 1987 entitled ‘Principals of traditional animation applied to 3D computer animation’. It was originally Disney that set the standards for animation techniques, employing more rigid character structures when designing and animating (previously, cartoons showed characters with very loose and unrealistic anthropometrical make-ups, Disney called this the ‘rubber hose’ syndrome). Looney Tunes developed a more slapstick comedy approach to their cartoons, utilising exaggerated poses and defying all laws of physics. Disney adopted this approach and developed some principals of animation in the 1930’s. John Lasseter based his paper on these rules.
1. Squash and Stretch |
Defining the rigidity and mass of an object by distorting its shape during an action | |
2. Timing and Motion |
Spacing actions to define the weight and size of objects and the personality of characters | |
3. Anticipation |
The preparation for an action | |
4. Staging |
Presenting an idea so that it is unmistakably clear | |
5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action |
The termination of an action and establishing its relationship to the next action | |
6. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose Action |
The two contrasting approaches to the creation of movement | |
7. Slow In and Out |
The spacing of the in-between frames to achieve subtlety of timing and movement | |
8. Arcs |
The visual path of action for natural movement | |
9. Exaggeration |
Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action | |
10. Secondary Action |
The action of an object resulting from another action | |
11. Appeal |
Creating a design or an action that the audience enjoys watching | |
Ultimately it is the creation of a personality that is the goal of all the above rules. I will obviously be looking to implement these 11 points throughout the whole of my movie.
More information can be found at www.siggraph.org
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Westerns <top>
Seeing as my movie is based on westerns I’ve felt it necessary to research into the subject and look into various films that I can pull ideas from.
The first film that comes to mind is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The series of films that this belongs to (The Dollars Trilogy) created all of the clichéd western shots seen in movies today. Some key scenes are shown below, taken from the DVD using the software winDVD. Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture –
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Image 1 shows one of many wide shots seen in westerns. The picture captures the atmosphere of the location and gives the viewer a good look at the surrounding landscape. It is this type of shot that I'd like to include in the 'Lone Ranger' chapter of the movie. Image 3 is also an example of this, taken from the shootout scene at the end of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'.
Another common camera placement seen in westerns is the 'behind character' shot. This is illustrated in images 2 and 7, image 7 probably being the more famous angle. I'd like to include a shot like this when the egg is about to shoot or draw his gun. By including a parody of this camera angle people will associate it to standard western films, and so help in establishing the atmosphere of the movie.
In image 4 you can see a close up of the belt and gun holster. The little bullet holders are a nice touch and adds a bit of detail to the belt.
Finally, images 5 and 6 both illustrate the close up face and expression shots seen many times in 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. The use of this angle really helps to build drama in the final shootout. Also, by cutting faster and faster to various other angles and then by cutting to a close up of just the eyes, a lot of tension is created. This also works extremely well with music that is used in the film.
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Character Personality <top>
Another film relevant to my research is Toy Story 1 & 2, mainly due to the character Woody.
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As you can see from the images Woody is a very basic cowboy, and it's very simple minor details that help to show this. It's mainly his jacket and boots that add to the cowboy effect the most but it's also smaller things like his sheriff star and belt that help to portray the cowboy image.
The CG images below of another cowboy character also helps to show what a cowboy should look like. In these pictures I particularly like the exaggerated hat and skinny legs and big hands. The cigarette is also a nice addition -
An important aspect when it comes to character animation is facial expressions. Good expressions will give characters a personality and so make them come alive. Here are some screenshots from the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. displaying exactly how expressions give a character a sense of depth and realism -
As you can see there are lots of varying facial characteristics that can be applied, and these screenshots are only a selection from a single scene!
It's very important to have a range of expressions because it's what can make a character come alive. I need to look into methods for creating various expressions so that I can give my characters their own personality.
As well as facial animation it's also important to get the body movements looking fluid and natural. Exaggeration is one common cartoon effect used to accentuate an action, and the film Ice Age illustrates this technique perfectly -
As you can see, the bulbous eyes in the first image and the accentuated strain in the second image help greatly in showing what the character is trying to do. Not only does it help tell the story, but it's also fun to watch and is part of the whole charm of cartoons.
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Guns <top>
The gun will be one of the main objects in my film so I've investigated other examples of computer generated weaponry.
I've looked into old style western guns and more modern, magazine based guns. I prefer the more contemporary style and so will go for this in my final film.
Below you can see some examples of various gun designs, my favourite is the very slick and metallic 'hitman' version, which looks very simple yet powerfull.
The old western barrel type gun is shown above, and even though this would be the more appropriate gun to use in my film I've decided that the modern look is more stylish and 'cool'. As well as this, the older style would be much harder to model due to the curved shapes and cylindrical barrel.
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Sketch Book <top>
Throughout the project I have kept a development book which I’ve used to write down all of my ideas and research.
The use of this book has helped me to visualise design ideas and concepts that I've come up with, and it's also helped to storyboard the movie.
In this website I've scanned a lot of pages of the book and included them as clickable images. This is to help illustrate certain points and ideas that I'm talking about on the website.
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3DS Max <top>
As I'm using 3DS Max for the project I have been researching and familiarising myself with the software as much as possible.
One thing that did help me through the 3DS Max learning experience was the completion of another 3D project called 'Egg Rage'. In this project I worked with someone else to recreate a short road and traffic light scene.
We created everything in the movie ourselves, and I was mainly in charge of the animation side of things, as well as character rigging. This process helped me enormously in getting to grips with MAX and realising what was needed in order to complete a successful project.
The movie can be downloaded here -
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Just under 2 minutes long, 'Egg Rage'
explores the dangers and experiences of living and driving in
a bizarrely populated egg world! |
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CGI Animated Shorts <top>
Obviously because my goal is to create a short animated movie it would be wise to look into some films that are already out there. Below I have compiled a list of some of my favourite and most influential indie animations I've found -
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Picas |
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Akryls |
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Rustboy |
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Killer Bean |
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The Deadline |
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The Annoying Thing |
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Snakes |