Final Animation

My final animation that will be used in my exhibition

More final animation trials

The thing I find most difficult to animate with stop motion is walking, I've tried to perfect it in this sequence, as well as try to add some length to a possible approach to the cafe scene. I've added an extra light (3 lights now) and tried to avoid moving the props - nearly successfully. I want to avoid jerky animation seen for an instance in this sequence (due to the character becoming unbalanced) in my final animation.

Finished Anaglyph Poster

This is essentially the final version of my Anaglyph poster, though I may tweek a few details and edit it slightly before I print it. I'm pleased with the result, I thjink the amoubnt of layers and detail add to the depth of the image, as well as working well as an anaglyph. Once printed out large I think the 3D effect would look even better.

Final Animation trial

I did a quick run through animation of what I would to animate as my final piece - It lasts around 17 second and is 190 frames in total. So logically to get my final animation to 30seconds I will need roughly double 190 (380) frames. I will also take more care with lighting, camera movement, prop movement and I'll also try to make the animation more fluid, as well as  end it better and less randomly.  - Also I'll avoid inconsistencies like the reappearing cigarette. The soundtrack consists of recorded sounds of traffic, a door, pouring liquid and dish stacking. The song is a cover of  John Lennon's  "Number9Dream" by my sister, the song of which the book my animation is based on, derived it's title.

More animation tests

 

Further animation tests - I tried to refine the walking and make the direction more controlled, which I think worked, however there is some camera movement and reflection seen on the set. I'll have to adjust the filming location. I also realised that you can adjust the soundtrack volume 

throughout the animation.

Quick test of character, set and audio

very rough test to see how all 3 factors work together. I'm pleased that they do, but the animation is still very rough (You can even see my hand in one of the frames) I am however very pleased with the animation sequence of him removing his cigarette - The worst parts are probably the walking and the zooming. 68 frames.

Anaglyph concept poster further developed...

Final Anaglyph poster - WIP

Work in progress of my final Anaglyph poster - I've decided that it will be a size between A1 and A0, as I think the anaglyph effect would look very impressive at such a scale - also, rather than crerating an actual concept poster of a scene or event in teh book, I've compiled characters and events from the book into one image - more like a movie poster in some ways.

I've added laying cards and war journal pages. as well as editing the cat's tail and adding extra depth to the waves

Set

Quick picture of the set with with the "walls" down, which enabled me to use multiple camera angles.

Set further developed..

Characters and Cafe set

 Photos of the 2 plasticine characters in the cafe; these are the characters I will be animating in my final sequence; again, they may be slightly adjusted. They're in the half done cafe interior, including furnishings from a doll house. The next series of pictures is a work in progress of the cafe front.

Final Plastecine Model

 This is the final model that will be used in my animation, the model is larger than previous attempts (to allow easier manipulation),as well as having larger feet so that balance is easier to maintain; it also has a wire skeleton. Before the final animation I may adjest the model slightly (smooth out creases and holes) but this is the final model fo the character Eiji Miyake:

Stop motion animation using wire skeleton

I encountered some difficulty with moving and keeping my character consistent in my last stop-motion animation. The character would often be unable to hold position. I decided to try to animate another plasticine character, but with a wire skeleton this time. There was a vast improvement in the amount of time taken to complete the animation, as the previous problems were eased if not entirely resolved. I still have an issue with the charter's walk, but I'm pleased with how the wire skeleton made the whole animation process easier. 35 frames.

National Media Museum

Th e Museum had an extensive section on the history of animation. Some photos and a video of some of the things on show:

Zoetrope

Thaumatrope

Praxinoscope

Phenakistoscope

 

I made a 12 frame Phenakistoscope - I used quite simple drawing as there is limited space on the circle. I've animated it digitally to give an impression of how it works. 

Digital Thaumatrope

A Thaumatrope is one of the first forms of optical illusions, and is seen as vital in the development of animation. It give the impression of the merging of 2 images, even though they are entirely separate. 

Anaglyph concept

This conceptual illustration is in reference to Eiji's description of PanOptican "level by level, PanOptican disapear, the clouds are up to the eightennth floor... " The building is described as huge, so I used the Hilton in Manchester as my reference. I adjusted the shading and lines in this anaglyph image, as well as adding a more complex background. Overall, I think the image works quite well. Done with a graphics tablet in Photoshop. 

Manchester As I have decided to adapt the setting of my animation to Manchester, I needed to gather some reference - Here are some of the photographs I will use in context:

My work space

Some photographs depicting my work space at University

Stopmotion Animation Photos

Some photos of the model in progress, as well as the make sift set I created!