My job has mainly been scanning in the hand inked frames, colouring sequences in Photoshop and compositing in After Effects. More specifically the compositing involved putting in camera moves, time re-mapping, generating effects, creating the animated film grain, bringing together several seperate layers into one scene, and embellishing the look of it. Chloe had a very clear vision in her mind of what she was after, so my role was very much acting as a technical support and following her direction.
It has been a really interesting project to work on, and great to work with such a passionate and driven director. Chloe has worked tirelessly day in and out on the film, it has been a massive labour of love and I am happy to have contributed towards making her vision come to life.
Screenshots
As you can see - it has a really nice aesthetic quality to it - a great quality of drawing, line, colour and texture. The film itself is one that keeps the viewer engaged, curious and entertained. The style has captured a surreal dream-like essence which works symbiotically with the content and nature of the film.
Chloe's statement:
" I see animation as a way to re-invest in representations and impart them with something strange and intoxicating. It enables me to create narratives that weave a kind of personal mythology out of dreams, fantasies and memories. My degree show film explores images that are born out of excess, and the project is a synthesis of many personal interests, including; erotic comic artists of the 1970s and ’80s, surrealism, perfume segments on home shopping channels, male sex idols of the ’80s, and the work of artist/animator Suzan Pitt. "
Learnings
I have learned a few little things (some of which are thanks to some helpful RCA students - cheers chaps!)
Boiling
Learning a method for producing a boiling effect (i.e. making the lines wobble a bit - like in Rugrats.) This has been achieved by using a loop of 3 frames. So it goes 1,2,3,2 then this is on a loop. The frames have been hand drawn, with the intention to simply copy over the exact same line again - this produces a nice subtle boiling effect. Alternatively, a similar effect can be achieved with turbulent displacement though it seems much less effective.
Time remapping
Getting used to working in the time remapping graph to re-tweek the timing of a bit of animation. I was asked to replicate the timing of a bit of animation to match a reference film clip and was able to work it into a tee using time remapping.
Consistant frame rate
I have also learned that it is wise to keep things all at the same frame rate (i.e. if the lines are boiling on 2s then any other animation or effects should be in sync on 2s as well), otherwise you get a bit of a weird strobe-ing effect which isn't so good on the eyes.
Motion paths + natural camera movement
Working directly with motion paths seems to be the clearest and easiest way to manipulate the movement of a camera. Alternatively, you can parent the linear/bezier movement of a camera to a null, then use motion sketch to apply a subtle natural camera move by hand (ideally with a tablet) in real time.
Photoshop actions as an indispensible colouring aid
I have also learned how to colour a sequence in Photoshop quickly by utilising actions. This has had a significant impact on speeding up workflow.
Using Final Cut
I have now scratched the surface of this lovely and intuitive editing program, perhaps one day I'll get it myself but until then I will make do with my trusty Adobe Premiere.
Using a Mac
It has to be said - whilst I have used Macs on rare occasion before, my computer at home is a PC with Windows and this is what I have become used to, so I feel like I have got much more used to using a Mac - I'm now bi-computeral :-)
Interestingly, it has actually changed the way I use my PC. I have downloaded a plug in which allows me to colour my folders - I highly recommend this as it enables quicker navigation through windows explorer if you have a large amount of files and folders to navigate in one project. Also using a Mac with 16GB of ram has inspired me to start jumping between different apps on my computer with more confidence and efficiency - no longer strictly keeping one app open at a time but working more simultaneously across apps - unless it slows down my computer! So yes - next step is to upgrade my PC to 16gb ram which I hope to do imminently.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my time working with Chloe and Filip (Fil inked all the frames) at the RCA and feel like I got a lot out of it. At times, there was a lot of pressure on and things could get a little stressful, but equally there were also some great moments where we were all "in the zone" and it was a laugh. Alongside Chloe and Fil, I also had the privilege of working with other artists on the project and I was chuffed to be part of the RCA scene. Meeting other animators on the course and attending a couple of fascinating lectures. One from animator Michael Dudok de Wit who has won a BAFTA for his film "Father and Daughter" and another from Ed Cooke - an expert on memory and imagination. Good times :-)
