Week 1 and 2: Brainstorming and investigation - Chris Sutton

Week 1: Brainstorming and investigation -Chris Sutton

How will I tie this into my main project for the year?

For my main project, I wanted to look at using hybrid animation (A mixture of hand drawn 2D animation and Computer generated 3D animation) to create characters, locations and visual effects. This a process of animation that has been around for several decades but has only really been front and center in a few films. While a lot of films in the past have used 3D for one or two items or characters, more recent films have been using the technique a lot more universally. 

I think this would be a good idea for my short film as hybrid animation lends itself quite well to stabilization. Keeping my film style stylized should help to cut down on the work time required and make the characters and environment more visually interesting. 

To make sure I am not totally focused on the technical side of the work, I need to consider how my processes will affect the style/look of the finished product.

How could I go about creating my final product at the base level?

Background = 2D

Environment = 3D

Objects = 3D

Characters = 2D 

Effects = ?

Films to look at:

Paperman - John Kahrs

Released in 2012 by the "Walt Disney animation studio", Paperman is award winning short animated film about George, a young man trying to get the attention of Meg, a woman he met at the train station.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rl-T2yIls 

Iron Giant - Brad Bird

Released in 1999 by Warner Bros feature films. Cult classic feature film about a young boy befriending a giant alien robot. 

Klaus - Sergio Pablos

A crowd funded project made by SPA Studios coming out in 2019. A feature length animated film about a postman in a remote snowy village who invents the legend of Santa Claus.

Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLAiBi-ByhQ

Treasure Planet - Ron Clements and John Musker

Released in 2002 by Walt Disney Animation. A science fiction/steampunk retelling of the Treasure island story.

Examples/ Interesting material


The SPA Studios | Klaus Progression Shot: 'Behind you'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLAiBi-ByhQ



Hullabaloo - James Lopez
http://www.hullabaloo-movie.com/

Paperman - John Kahrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rl-T2yIls&t=50s

20 Feb: Class blog

Provide a summary of the techniques and film making processes of the two film makers (Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez) then discuss your thoughts.

Robert Rodriguez

• Uses editing and pre-planning to cut back on the amount of film he shoots. 
• Aims for minimal budget shooting.
• Tries to stay true to any source material.
• Casual on set.

Interesting style, but I dislike his focus on budget. In several shots I noticed problems caused by the attempts to cut corners and save time. Probably not someone I would look at for my own work.

Richard Linklater

• Works with the same actors lot (Good connections)
• Long shooting period (12 years)
• Allows for a lot of actor input
• Aims for realism

While I like Richard Linklater's work a lot, I don't think there is much I can take from his process to assist in my own project. The main thing I should consider from Linklater is how he lets his actors in on the creative process. While this might help add a lot of life to my characters, it could also totally divert them from their intended presentation.

Things to investigate

• Composting 2D and 3D elements.
• Lighting that blends both the 2D and 3D.
• Creating fast and convincing movement in a hybrid animation film.

Creating a convincing blend between the 3D and 2D elements of the film is always the big challenge for any animation involving hybrid animation. Making sure the style, texture and most importantly the lighting match up between elements, and finding a process to streamline this will be a priority.

Additionally, most of my story takes place on a fast moving vechicle (Train, gondola, airship)