Walk Cycle

This I didn't like it I found that it as very frustrating for me to do because of all the bending and how this person was going to walk I also hated drawing the cloths on the character I found it way more difficult than drawing the character with just the bone structure. After it was finished I still wasn't pleased on how it walked but for my first try at it I thought i didn't do to bad.

Lip sync

This took me ages to draw each and every mouth movement and fined when to put the page with that movement on the audio clip. I found it very frustrating to put together but I did enjoy the drawing part and then wants I saw the final outcome I'm glad I did it in the end. The next time I try this I  will be more careful on the vowels.

2D Animation Young Carer Video Final Evaluation

After listening to the audio of the young carers, I found one person that stood out to me and that's a little boy who thinks of him self as a hero. I immediately had lodes of ideas on how to create a little video clip of this Super Carer.

This is my first drawing to give me an idea of what I kind of want in the short video. I planed to have the little boys house with a city and a bad guy. I also wanted to show the city light and dark and I also wanted the little boy as him self then turns into a super hero.

This is my second drawing of different styles of moons and suns, I also had an idea of using birds flying and stars flickering but in the end I designed not to use it in the movie because I didn't want it to take over the little boys story. After looking at my different styles i kept one idea and that was the fourth style of the moon and then I went on and designed a much better sun, I also designed a sunset type of mixed up moon and sun.

This is my third drawing of the house,fence,path,clouds and the sun. I cut this out of white card and then I painted my design on top with water color paints. I like how they came out, they look very cartoony and came out better than I imagined.

This is my fourth drawing of the brick pavement, puff of smock,sunset and tree. I cut this out of white card and then I painted my design on top with water color paints. I love the puff of smock it took me ages to draw.

This is my fifth drawing of different types of smiles, eyes,face shapes and different hair styles. In the end I went with a round face,spiky hair, big eyes and a big smile. This did take me an hour to find a good style of my young carer character.

This is drawing six, its got the body shape that I'm going with for my super carer. It didn't take me very long because I was going with a limited leg and arm movement.

This is my seventh drawing of the little girl and the bad guy. this took me about twenty minutes to draw and pick what face and body I wanted to use for my video.

This is my final drawing of my characters, these are the characters I used in my video and the white drawing of my character is my first character try out. I like my characters and I love the super carer hero I think he turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

This is my 2D Animation of my super carer, it took me four weeks to make and I loved every minute of it. The one thing I wish I could do better on, is the music because it isn't my work I found it on the internet the artists name is Benjamin Silver. the reason why I picked that type of music is because I wanted something in the middle of rock and pop and I found that this artist music was the perfect tone for my young super carer. I enjoyed doing the stop motion in my short video and I also loved the idea of having Stop motion and Rotoscoping join in the video. I decided to do something I have dine and something I have never done. It ended up being a lot better than I could a have dreamed. I am very impressed with my work and for the animating part I would not change a thing.

3D animation Maya Final Evaluation

This is software that I hadn't used before, I found it very confusing for the first couple of weeks. Then after I knew where I was going with the Maya videos I found it more tolerable. I think I could have gone a lot further into Maya if I hadn't have found it so difficult to understand.

This is a Finished Piece showing a lamppost. It is possible to do 360 turn around the Lamppost. The reason why I haven't done that is the rendering take's far too long.

This photo demonstrates correct work flow setup, I do this so my work doesn't get lost with all the other folders. My Maya folder breaks my work up into its different elements.

This shows a working progress of my 3D character design. I found this process very difficult to work on because I didn't have the videos to help me this time. I have work sheets to help create my 3D character, which I found very difficult to understand.

The reason why I never got to finish the building off is because there were things on the PC that weren't on the Mac like the Insert key. I also found this more difficult than the lamppost because there were more new things to learn to create this building.

3D animation Maya (Street Lamp)

This image shows the finished piece of my street lamp, I found working on Maya very hard to learn but when I finished the street lamp I felt relieved that I finished it.

This image shows the process of creating the building by using Maya. This is a lot more difficult then the lamp because you have to change the sizes a lot in this process.

2D movie Progress (2)

I haven't changed anything from the first video clip but I have put on a new clip near the end of this clip. Its another stop motion this time it of the boy turning into the super carer and flying of into the sky. I like how I did the puff of smoke when he turned into the super carer and I also like how the clouds move at the end to show that he is fly is moveing the clouds. I started this clip on the 4th May.

2D Movie Progress

This is the first clip I did with stop motion and rotoscope. I thought my title needs to be worked on a bit more it seems to easy, not enough detail. I like my snow globe idea, I love how it zooms in but I think it could have been a bit slower, the reason why I believe it should have been slower is that if some one is watching it for the first time they might not now what it is because its to quick.
My first try at card stop motion came out rather good. I like how I did the movement, I like how boxy the movements were and I also think the design of the character gave it a cute personality. This is only the first 12 sec of the 2D movie I have done for now I started this on the 2nd May.

Maya Character Design 2

I managed to do a 3D arm in Maya, but now I am stuck again. I will try and do the leg next.

Maya Character design

This is how fare I have gotten on designing a character on Maya. I am finding this very difficult at the moment, especially creating the character in 3D form. This stage is designing the limbs of the body.

Work Based Learning

Jodie Morris

FD Animation Art Year 1

Work Based Learning

Task 1 Presentation of animated production research

Film Production Analysis

Credit list: This short animated film was created by a young comic-artist called Jesus Orellana, he was the only one who worked on this film.

Why I chose this animation: The reason why I like this animation is because it is a sci-fi and fantasy short movie witch I really like, this movie also reminded me of Final Fantasy. The reason why the short movie reminds me of Final Fantasy is that the character design look the same and the way they have done the background reminds me of it as well.

What role I would like in the film and why: I would like to do the character design because I would like to have the honour of creating someone’s dream character.

What skills would I need to acquire this role: You will have to utilise and combine a whole range of skills. A character designer must create using a process that is one half design and the other half visual communication. I would have to develop my skills in thumb nail drawings and poses the reason why I have to work on my poses is because I can only do one pose and I would like to create more.

I researched this role to find out more detail on skills that I would need to qualify for this type of job. I have found Information on a job vacancy site.

Job Description

The 2D Facial Animator creates facial expressions, extremes and phonemes for stop motion animated characters. 2D designs and animation need to convey emotion, movement, action and personality, specifically focusing on lip sync. This position requires a level of sophistication of technique on a feature film level.

Note: This position will be located on-site at our Studio in Oregon. When sending samples, include a demo reel with 2D Animation lip sync samples, as well as expression sheet and turnarounds.

Essential Job Functions

    * Block in rough facial animation and phonemes for Director and/or Facial Animation Supervisor for their approval.

    * Work with Director and/or Facial Animation Supervisor to finalize animation.

    * Meet animation production deadlines as established by management.

    * Create facial expressions and extremes conveying emotion, movement, action and personality.

    * Read and break down dialogue tracks and plan shots.

    * Work with Directors on creating teeth and skull designs.

    * Work with Facial Animation Supervisor and Director of RP in making sure 2D animations fit within the Stop Motion pipeline

Qualifications

    * Bachelor’s degree in relevant area of study or equivalent combination of education and experience.

    * 3+ years experience as a 2D Facial Animator in the entertainment industry.

    * Experience working on a fully animated theatrically released Stop Motion and/or CG feature film a plus.

    * Strong understanding of traditional animation principles.

    * Ability to bring characters to life.

    * Stop Motion animation experience a plus.

http://www.animatedjobs.com/category/character-design/ Accessed 2/12/11

These are the other team members i would work with as a character designer.

Jobs in Pre-Production:

Production Designer

Storyboard Supervisor

Art Director

Storyboard Artist

Designer

Storyboard Assistant *

Character Designer

Prop Designer

Layout Supervisor

Background Designer

Layout Artist

Colour Stylist

Clean Up Artist /Design Assistant *

http://www.skillset.org/animation/careers/2D_drawn/ Accessed 2/12/11

What influences were there: I believe there are some similarity to final fantasy and Rosa, the reason why I believe that is because of the way the characters look and that detail and color that has been used. This style of work also reminds me of japans style of work. This film reminds me of tomb raider because of the action scenes. Another film it reminds me of is the animation Dead Space movie, the reason why it remind me of Dead Space, is because they both have a hunt scene and it has a sci-fi aura about it. Please see other post for further analysis (Comparison between Matrix and Rosa)

Email Request for Archive:

Dear Sir

I am a student studying for a degree in Animation at Plymouth College of Art in England. I thought that Jesus Orellana's work Rosa was really impressive, I especially like the way the character would focus on objects around her just like a cyborg would do. It would be greatly appreciated if I could have a copy of the film for our college archives. The reason why I would like a copy is so that other students can evaluate his style of work.

Many thanks Jodie

Task 2 Creative studio environment

This is an idea I was going to do for the studio. Its a calendar witch shows ideas improving threw the months.

This is the part that I worked on, I painted and took off the tape of this section.

Task 3 Personal development plan

Career Profiles

I found these profiles on the internet of the website of Walt Disney studio

CAREERS IN ANIMATION

Careers in Animation: Artistic & Technical

Artistic

Storyboard Artists

Have the ability to visualize a film script in a series of panels somewhat like a comic strip. They are able to convey the essence of story line, scene structure, character emotion and create action and humor in alignment with the overall direction of the film. Ability to quick sketch, a mastery of human and animal anatomy, a filmic sense and a design-caricature ability are all necessary requirements.

Visual Development Artists

Visually explore a concept, which may include Character Design and/or Environment Design for animated films, shorts and special projects. Visual Development Artists will experiment with the diverse elements of film presentation to manipulate dramatic story moments, plot thrusts, moods, character conflict and place-time motifs to capture the emotional connection to the story's theme. A rich imagination, a sense of caricature and design, strong color sense, a mastery of human and animal anatomy, architecture, the ability to work in different mediums and the versatility to conceptualize visually in a variety of techniques are required. Children's book illustration, fine art and/or illustration skills are a plus.

Modelers

Responsible for creating complex organic models needed for character animation; prop elements for effects; and environmental sets and structures. A mastery of human and animal anatomy, perspective, weight, volume, proportion and/or architecture, industrial design or automotive design are required. Previous experience with traditional sculpting is a plus.

Layout Artists

Responsible for the staging and set up of each shot. Layout Artists should demonstrate a strong sense of place and environment and be well-versed in principles of cinematography. Attention to perspective and composition is critical in developing a variety of environments for characters to live in.

Character Technical Directors

Responsible for constructing 3D character rigs, animation interfaces and establishing muscle, skin and clothing behaviors (i.e. range from broad squash and stretch to realistic physical simulations). Traditional drawing, design and sculpture abilities are applicable, as is knowledge of anatomy, kinematics and physical behaviors.

Character Animators

Responsible for bringing characters to life. To be a successful candidate, Character Animators may have a background in any of the following animation disciplines: traditional, cg, stop motion or claymation. Prior training should cover anatomy, perspective and composition, including solving problems in weight, balance, movement, space, construction and proportion. Animators must be able to demonstrate their understanding of animation principles such as timing, clear staging, squash and stretch, anticipation and follow-through, and secondary action.

Background/Matte Painters

Create the final environment for our characters to live in. A strong sense of design and compositing, color and proportion is essential in developing 2D and 3D backgrounds.

Look Development Painters

Work with other Look Development staff to achieve the look of complex 3D elements (i.e. characters, props and environments) in the show. This could include painting texture maps (e.g. color maps, specular maps, displacement maps, etc.), working with TDs to enhance the look and creating lighting setups. Look Development Painters typically have previous production experience and have demonstrated exceptional skills/abilities in 3D artwork.

Look Development Technical Directors

Work as part of a Look Development team that defines all the technical aspects needed to create the look of a 3D element. This may include the development and writing of custom shaders, applying texture maps, or developing other custom software to accomplish the art-direction goals of an element or environment.

Hair/Cloth Technical Directors

Work with the Model Department, Look Development, Animation and Software teams to create art-directable dynamic simulations for character hair/fur and clothing in 3D feature animation production. Production experience with procedurally generated objects and dynamic simulations, a thorough understanding of 3D computer programs and exceptional artistic skills/abilities in 3D/traditional artwork are required.

Effects Animators

Add natural, and sometimes supernatural phenomena, to an animated film. An understanding of physical dynamics and natural forces is key, as it aids in producing a believable world and setting the mood for the story. An Effects Animator must take direction easily, work well with an artistic team and deliver scenes in a timely fashion.

Lighting Artists

Responsible for assembling the elements of a shot into a final composite and composing the digital lighting of the scene. Shot Finalers must have an understanding of color, contrast, and lighting design, along with a solid familiarity with 3D lighting in a production environment. Shot Finalers also possess a strong visual sense and the ability to distinguish subtle differences that affect the matching of elements created in multiple mediums.

Assistant Technical Directors and Trainee Technical Directors

Found in each artistic department on a production, they support digital artists and/or TDs. They must possess a working knowledge of Linux, the ability to work in a collaborative environment, as well as a basic understanding of modeling, lighting, compositing and animation. Taking direction from TDs and/or artistic supervisors, they may be expected to support and execute various production tasks including muscle and skin dynamics simulations, particle simulations, cloth simulations, Shell or MEL scripting, shader writing/support and rendering pipeline support.

Technical

Graphics Tools Software Engineers

Responsible for analyzing the procedures and problems of animated film production, evaluating the effectiveness of existing systems and making recommendations to improve output, efficiency and workflow. Areas of specialty for a Graphics Software Engineer may include rigging and animation, dynamics, paint, effects, look development and/or rendering tools. They partner with production personnel to determine user needs and review system capabilities to decide what changes can be made within the existing systems and when new systems must be added. They will often work with developers and/or end-users on multiple films. Design responsibilities include the creation of new C, C++, MEL, Perl or Python code or the modification of existing code, whichever meets productions needs in the timeliest manner. Regression testing and analyzing of software, code check-in/integration and distribution are also part of the software engineer's implementation responsibilities.

Infrastructure Software Engineers

Responsible for the development and support of productivity tools for the production of animated films. They are responsible for analyzing production software procedures and problems, evaluating the effectiveness of existing systems and making recommendations to improve output, efficiency and workflow. Their areas of specialty include databases, schedule and shot tracking tools, pipeline asset management tools and quality assurance testing.

Systems Administrators

Responsible for the configuration, tuning and troubleshooting of various systems in our production infrastructure. The Systems Administrators have a particular focus on UNIX/Linux, but also support Windows and Macintosh systems. They perform hardware and software maintenance on workstations and servers as well as data protection. Systems Administrators interact with a variety of production, systems and software teams.

Technical Support Engineers (TSE)

Provide software, hardware and systems support to our crew. The TSE team requires technical problem solving abilities; an understanding of animation or visual effects production; strong skills in commercial graphics packages such as Maya, Shake or Photoshop; and developed Linux, Macintosh and Windows skills for navigating a heterogeneous computing environment.

Render I/O (RIO) Administrators

Responsible for understanding production's render pipeline and supporting proprietary production techniques. They monitor and troubleshoot the render queuing system and rendering workload. Tasks include troubleshooting and correcting failed tasks, image quality control, technical advice/support and interfacing with artists, systems administrators and production management to ensure production deadlines are met.

http://www.disneyanimation.com/careers/animation_careers.html (Accessed 11.05.2012)

The job that mostly appeals to me is Character Animation. the reason why is because I like the idea of creating life.

Job Vacancies

Character Design

Company : Dolphin Animation

Compensation : Rs. 25000 - 35000 / Month

Location : Hyderabad / Secunderabad

Posted on : 5/9/2012

No. of Positions: 1

 Even though there is a job for character design I don't want to travel that far.

2D FACIAL ANIMATOR REQUIRED AT LAIKA

The 2D Facial Animator creates facial expressions, extremes and phonemes for  stop motion animated characters.  2D designs and animation need to convey emotion, movement, action and personality, specifically focusing on lip sync. This position requires a level of sophistication of technique on a feature film level.

Note: This position will be located on-site at our Studio in Oregon. When sending samples, include a demo reel with 2D Animation lip sync samples, as well as expression sheet and turnarounds.

Essential Job Functions

    * Block in rough facial animation and phonemes for Director and/or Facial Animation Supervisor for their approval.

    * Work with Director and/or Facial Animation Supervisor to finalize animation.

    * Meet animation production deadlines as established by management.

    * Create facial expressions and extremes conveying emotion, movement, action and personality.

    * Read and break down dialogue tracks and plan shots.

    * Work with Directors on creating teeth and skull designs.

    * Work with Facial Animation Supervisor and Director of RP in making sure 2D animations fit within the Stop Motion pipeline

Qualifications

    * Bachelor’s degree in relevant area of study or equivalent combination of education and experience.

    * 3+ years experience as a 2D Facial Animator in the entertainment industry.

    * Experience working on a fully animated theatrically released Stop Motion and/or CG feature film a plus.

    * Strong understanding of traditional animation principles.

    * Ability to bring characters to life.

    * Stop Motion animation experience a plus.

This job appeals to me because this involves character design. The good thing about facial animation is there is a lot of emotion in the face this gives the character personality.

Personal Contacts

At the moment I don’t have any contacts in the animation industry. My tutors know a lot about animation so I think they are my best source of information at the moment, To make contacts I will need to research artists that inspire me and email them. Visiting film festivals is another way that I could get to meet people in the industry.

Jodie Morris

45 Bellamy Close

Plymouth

Devon

PL65LG

Tel. 01752 779065

Email morrisjodie@eggbuckland.com

Personal Profile

I am an enthusiastic artist and have had a passion for art since an early age. I work well in a group and can also work well independently. I am capable of working under pressure and enjoy the challenge of working to a deadline. I have a good sense of humour and I am pleasant to work with.

Employment History

2010 –Present Babysitting

2009- 2010 Voluntary Library assistant at Eggbuckland Community College Library.

Education

2011 – Present                 Plymouth College of Art and Design  FDA Animation Art

2004 -2011                           Eggbuckland Community College

Qualifications

Edexcel                GCSE     Art & Design: Fine Art    C             June 2009

Edexcel                GCSE     Art & Design: Textiles     C             June 2009

Edexcel                GCSE     Mathematics                                     E              June 2009

AQA       GCSE     English Language                                              E              June 2009

AQA       GCSE     English Literature                                             E              June 2009

OCR       GCSE     Science                                                                 E              June 2009

OCR       GCSE     Additional Science                                           F              June 2009

ASDAN                 Certificate of Personal Effectiveness s(CoPE)      Pass       July 2009

Edexcel                Key Skill Level 2                 Communication                                Pass       June 2010

Hobbies and interests

I like to make drawings using a variety of mediums including paper based and computer based techniques. I enjoy sharing these drawings online and getting feedback from other artists. I enjoy watching animated films especially the work of Tim Burton.

References

Available on request

Job application and/or covering letter

This is an example of a covering letter based on applying for the job of 2D facial animator at Laika.

Jodie Morris

45 Bellamy Close

Plymouth

Devon

PL65LG

Tel. 01752 779065

Email morrisjodie@eggbuckland.com

Dear Mr Laika

I am writing in response to your advertisement for the post of 2D Facial Animator. My CV is attached and I have all the necessary qualifications to fulfil the requirements of this job. I have produced a variety of animated films both for my own use and for my degree course at Plymouth College of Art. I am capable of learning new techniques and I believe I have all the skills necessary to do this job.  I would be grateful if you would consider me for this post.

Yours Sincerely

Jodie Morris

Task 4 Swot Analysis

Strengths

·         Sense of Humour- This is a good skill to have when you are working in a team

·         Good Communicator- This is useful when you are planning an animation in a group

·         Creativity-   This is important as any aspect of animation needs creativity

·         Enthusiastic – This helps to keep me motivated when working on an idea.

·         Tenacious- This is important to make sure that the job gets done.

·         Observant- This helps to make sure I pick up the details which are important in the animation process

Weaknesses (Areas for development)

·         I speak my mind too freely – Sometimes it’s better to speak before you think and I could offend somebody,

·         Timekeeping – In a working environment this would not be acceptable. I need to work on this.

·         Shyness when first meeting people- Being more confident would help with networking.

Opportunities

I have the opportunity to gain experience by doing my degree.

I have the opportunity to work in a group and learn from my peers

I have the opportunity to improve my knowledge.

Threats

If I didn’t get my degree that would threaten my career chances.

Being able to finance my BA is a threat because my parents are in Bristol and can’t afford to finance me so I will have to find a job.

Personal Statement of my goals

Immediate Goals

To complete all my assignments on time.

·         17.05.12 Complimentary Studies All complete

·         28.05.12 3D Animation I have a lot to catch up on in this assignment

·         29.05 2D Animation  I have nearly completed the animation but still have to do the sound

·         01.06.12 Work Based Learning I am on schedule to finish on time.

Action needed   I need to concentrate to get it finished.

Goals for the next 18 months

·         To work more independently

·         I hope to sell some of my work on the internet.

·         To have my own website to sell myself as an artist.

·         To be more confident.

·         To finish my Foundation Degree

Goals for the next three years

·         Finish my BA in Animation.

·         To have a part time job to help finance things.

·         To have a good network.

Task 5 CV  included in task 3

Task 6 Online Profile

An online profile is important because it is a way to get yourself known.

I found an example of an online profile at this link http://matthewrlyon.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/online-profile.html

This is like a blog with video and images of his work. This is quite a basic online profile which could be more eye catching. If I was looking for an animator this wouldn’t have made me want to work with him.

There are several ways to have an online profile…

Own Website

Having my own website would be good because it would just be about my work. It is possible to keep updating it. I could include images of my work and videos of the films I have made. I could include contact details which would mean people could get in touch with me if they liked my work.

Linkedin

This is an online networking site which lets you communicate with other animators or others who work in the same industry.

I have set up a Linkedin account today.

DeviantART

This online network is something I use to get other people’s opinions on my work. These are some of the different style drawings I developed on the way of using this online profile.

Task 7 WBL 1 completed

Task 8 Evidence of Structured Plans for Exploring Work Based Learning Opportunities

If I were to do a work placement now I would want it to be in Plymouth. The reason why is that I’m not ready, but maybe next year I might have more confidence in myself to travel away. I have researched animation companies in Plymouth to find any work placements.

Mentor Digital - Logo : Web Design, Interactive Media and Video Production

http://www.mentordigital.co.uk/archive/video-animation/plymouth-video-animation.aspx

This is the only animation work placement possibility I could find in Plymouth.

Another possibility would be to work in college, producing an animation for a client’s website. It could be an advertisement as part of their website to help bring in more customers.

Task 9 Reflective Report

I think I have made a reasonable start to my work based learning.  It has been useful because before I did this I didn’t have a CV so this is something new that I have learned. The swot analysis has helped me to find my strengths and weaknesses and I have found areas I can work on to improve. It was useful to work out my three year plan for my goals. It made things clearer for me. I have started to develop an online profile which will be an important way of getting noticed as an animator. I have also thought about how I could achieve my work placement which will be a useful experience.