What week is this?
I don’t even know anymore.
Let’s see...
Premise done. Treatment done. Script done.
Thumbnails done. Video block done.
...
I guess that about all I’ve finished. I don’t think it’s bad
where I currently am. Possibly slightly behind but I’m certainly on the right
track to getting everything done and submitted on time.
The reason I think I’m behind is because I’m wanting to do
everything better this year. For me last year was a big failure and I just want
everything to be of a much higher quality this year. I’m definitely putting too
much effort into some areas simply because I’m enjoying it.
I really like my idea and can’t wait to see it fully
realised. My story started out as something slightly bigger and this small
changes here and there but with the help of my teachers I’ve been able to
refine the idea into something that could be pretty (hopefully) awesome.
The major problems I’ve come across are my drawing skills. I
think I doubt myself too much and I’ve been relying on Darren to help me
overcome this. He has helped shape my characters to get them to where I’m
really happy with them and am excited to begin putting everything into Maya.
I haven’t thought too much about next semester because I’ve
been focusing so much on this semester but when I do I do get a little afraid
of will I have enough time to make this animation how I want it to look. I
honestly will hate myself if I create another piece of work that is anything like
that I produced last year.
I’m currently working on finishing my character rotations
(again because I doubt my ability to draw). I’ve done most of my storyboards
but they will easily come together once I finish the character turn arounds. Other things that I haven’t finished are the
Old Man expressions (I’ll need to talk about just what I need to do there
because he really doesn’t have any expressions because we barely see his face),
different character poses, mood boards and my layouts.
The layouts are coming along, I think I need to talk to
Neale so see if he’s happy with the ones I’ve chosen (I only want to ask
because the whole animation is really just in one room).
I haven’t talked too much about how I plan on doing the
animation once it’s in Maya. Jack and I talked briefly about how I should
animate the Little Girls expressions. The technique I liked the most is to have
all of her expressions as blend shapes which I’ll control from the shelf,
although it’ll take a little while to setup all of those controls I think it’ll
be worth it in the long run. The other idea Jack had was to have the Little
Girls face ‘normal’ (not deformed) and use a blend shape to add the deformity,
this will save a lot of time setting up the blend shapes.
Before I begin really getting stuck into Maya I will have to
research how to do hair properly and how I need it to work for me. I do hope to
produce something that is somewhat realistic and doing textures seems a little
daunting to me as I really am unsure as to how to do them well and to a level I’ll
be happy and proud of.
Since the majority of the class has had quite the bit of fun
with making up quotes from my animation, mainly what the Old Man says, I think
I’ll leave out any dialogue. But, after putting together the thumbnail animatic
I don’t really see the need for any dialogue, while I think it could be nice to
attempt doing lip-sinc I think the actions in the animations speak for themselves
and voices will detract from what’s happening on screen, (if I’m wrong speak up
now).
I also haven’t done extensive research into what piece of
music I want to use. I have dropped in something that I like when I did the
thumbnail animatic. Although it doesn’t fit perfectly I do like the piano
which, when I decide on a piece, I want to keep. If I could find something that
builds and becomes a fuller sound by the end, that would be awesome. I have thought
about asking a friend of mine who is classically trained, can play all sorts of
instruments pretty darn well, to help me with recreating a piece if it’s
something that is available for free.
P.S. No, my characters don’t have names aside from Little
Girl and Old Man at the moment. I don’t see the need for them to have a name
just yet, though, if anyone has any ideas I’m more than willing to hear any
ideas.
