Sunday 25 July 2010

Octopus E sting - Animation tests

After drawing up and scanning all the key frames for the Octopus as he slips on the soap, I realized how tricky it will be to actually animate this!
Co-ordinating the movement for 8 legs as the Octopus flips 360 in mid-air is really quite tricky. Accounting for each leg and how it moves in relation to the Octopuses body/head as it flips really confused me at times, I'd either loose one leg somewhere or mistake one for another and skew the motion up.

So, before developing the colour concepts any further I thought I'd tackle this tricky section, and here is how I managed it!


Stage One - Drawings: First I drew and scanned all the key positions for the Octopus as he slips on the soap.
Stage Two - Rough Guidelines: I then colour coded each tentacle so as to be able to track them individually as the Octopus flips.
The front three are red; these are the tentacles that have contact with the soap and so initiate the flipping motion.
The 4th and 5th tentacles either side of the front three are blue, and the remaining three tentacles at the back are green. The head is also marked in pink and the position of the Octopus' eyes are in orange.
I animated each colour coded section of tentacles separately so that I only had 2 or 3 legs visible at a time, this made things a little less confusing.
Stage Three - Fleshed out Guidelines: Next I fleshed out each tentacle to be able to see how they interact with one another; where one overlaps another, if their in the foreground or in the background, etc.
Similarly to before I tackled each colour coded section separately, but this time made regular checks to the positions of the other tentacles... it still looks a bit of a mess here though.
Oh I also added in the motion path of the soap to help with the timing.
Stage Four - Final Outlines: So with all the tentacles and the head in roughly their correct positions throughout the flipping motion, all that was left to do was basically trace over the fleshed out guidelines with a single outline.

This final clip will now become the reference for when I come to animate the real thing. Once I have developed up the colour concepts and have a clear idea of how the Octopus character will look (e.g: if he has an outline, texture, colour, markings, etc) I will be able to simply trace over this clip, frame by frame and concentrate on the aesthetic quality of the Octopus having already got the technical side of the animation pinned down!

Monday 19 July 2010

Octopus E sting - Storyboards and Colour concepts

I'm still working blindly in regards to the criteria for submitting an E sting here, there is still no news on when the 2010 competition opens!!
But I'm working on regardless, here are some storyboards that i've sketched up. But after watching a couple of the 2009 E sting entries I'll probably have to edit this down a lot...

Also here are some quick watercolour wash colour concepts. I've gone for the very E4 purple palette and complimentary orange.



Sunday 18 July 2010

Octopus E sting Idea

I was watching E4 the other night and was struck with inspiration to create an E sting animation for their annual competition! Although I may possibly be quite premature with my ideas as there isn't actually any news of when the 2010 competition starts... Oh well, nothing wrong with starting the development early!!

So here are designs for an Octopus character that I came up with!!























Stay posted for colour concepts and storyboards!

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Coningsby Show, London!

Monday 5th July, and the sun is barely up when my alarm goes off at 5am!!
Yes, it was an early start for me and the rest of the Illustration gang yesterday! We had to get to Bower Ashton Campus bright and early to load the coach with all our work; wrapped, packed and ready to go on the journey to the Coningsby Gallery in London!

After a 4 hour journey and a nap on the coach we arrived in Tottenham Road at around 11.30 am,where we unloaded all our bubble wrapped work and set about hanging the show. The Private View was due to kick off at 6.30 pm, so roughly 40 sleep-deprived students and 3 coffee craving tutors set to work; hammering, painting, arranging, handing out invites and most importantly, getting drinks!
Once everything was up and ready for the public we had to freshen ourselves up and look smart for the event, and let me tell you, that took a bit of doing! Not only were we all zombified and baggy-eyed, but the gallery could have done with some air conditioning!!

The night was a blast, defiantly one I will treasure! The show looks fantastic, the atmosphere was amazing and it was great to be there on what could possibly be the last time weare all together!
I will defiantly miss everyone on the course; from the people I am closest to (we will defiantly have to arrange regular meet ups!!), to those I regret not getting to know more (be sure to stay in touch!). And not forgetting my three wonderful tutors who will be sure to receive phone calls and emails asking for advice!

So in memory of BA (Hons) Illustration 2007 - 2010, welcome to our show!!


Firstly, this is the little corner where you'll find my work. As the gallery space had to accommodate everyone we were limited to a particular number and size of frames.
These are the 3 images I selected.





































Underneath the following photos I'll write the name of the illustrator featured and attach a link to their blog or website so you can check them out!
These are Christine's dogs on the door.
Another Ash Clarke
More of Kirsty's wire sculptures.
Owen Gatley and another Christine Lau..
Tengku Adam's prints on the walls around the cupboards containing 3D work
Christian Norman's Glasses, and a collection of 3D work.
Books and sculptures and things, you may be able to spot my Bristol Short Story Book on the middle shelf on the left, behind Rich's Alice in Wonderland!
Jonathan Dodds and Adam's animation playing on the monitor. The Owl and the Pussy Cat made an appearance on the reel too!!
Cei Willis, Megan Warre and Ash Clarke's prints.

Well there you have it!
The exhibition is on this week till Friday, if your able to get there please check it out! (address and details in the sidebar)

From here on out we're released into the wide world!! Stay posted on here for whatever is in store for me and my career! And the very best of luck to everyone else!
These past three years have certainly been "Legend-wait for it, and I hope your not lactose intolerant-Dary!!"



(*) The quote is from Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, played by Neil Partick Harris... If you don't watch it, you should!!