Storyboard animatic

We are finally getting somewhere... today we filmed our storyboard this helped us to see how to link each clip. We filmed it so when we want it to zoom in on that certain drawing then we zoomed etc. and where we wanted the camera to enter and exit. I'm happy with how it looks and are getting a better idea of how the animation is going to work. Also when we edited it together we played around with the music a bit and added sounds that were on the Mac like stardust. Music we havent sorted out yet however we know that we want something along the lines of the music we added within this storyboard.

Continuity second and final cut.

This was our second edit of the continuity sequence. We could see problems that it didn't stick to the criteria we decided to cut out a scene. We choose the scene where the camera moves upwards to revel the second character, this didn't work as a camera angle as it isn't either a establishing shot or an point of view of one of the characters. Now we have cut that scene out it flows much better and communicate the same positioning of the characters throughout.

Continuity Sequence- first cut

This is our continuity sequence, it had to have an character walking into a room, sitting down and exchange dialogue with another character. Together we thought how we can use different camera angle but at the same time stick to the 180 degree rule. Our first shot was a low angle of the feet walking into the room and the door closes, it then switches to the inside view as the door has just closed. Throughout out sequence we switch the camera from over the shoulder shots to a wide shot showing both characters, and not breaking the 180 degree wall the characters each stayed on the same side of the frame. This is our first edit i think there is still some changes to do.

Ideas, The big picture and The Pitch

On thursday we presented our pitch to the class. During the lesson we looked through the book "Laura Star" and looked at ways how we can put the titles and images together. We made a list of all the different places where the names can appear.

1. window

2. sky

3. slippers

4. torch

5. bed/pillow

6. jelly

7. ballons

all these fit with the story and all feature in the book. We each had a go at drawing one of the titles, i done the bedroom where the name appears on the pillow.

However when we each done one of the titles we realised we each have different styles and as we want it to all be the same one of us have to do the drawing. As a group we decided to edit and colour the photos in photoshop this will make the pictures stronger and more bold unlike the ones above. Also it will be quicker than colouring in all the pictures.

In our pitch everyone liked the idea and i think they could see it working. We showed clips from my blog of other example of Children animation to back up our idea. The main thing came across from the pitch that there is alot to do, but i think we realised that and we will put the work in as we want it to be done.

This is our "Big Picture" we have shown all out ideas and possible ways in how to do our animation. Also included example ofanimation which we like.

Children animation research

Like i said we wanted to change normal then to animation and the children's book idea, "Elf" is a perfect film that has all that. It keeps the magical part of the child's book and the animation are very sweet.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t5cv0MxKAzk

The drawn image turns into a real life which i really like the effect of.

Another good thing about it is that the titles appear on different thing, for example some are written in the book and the pages turn.

Other examples of childrens aniamtion are films like Shrek, Ice Age and Bug Life however this are much more glossy and we could never get to that standard of aniamtion. However they are still animation and are mainly for children viewing.

I think the appealing thing to this is the characters look friendly and child friendly. If out audience are children we need it to appeal and communicate to them. Having characters or bright colours like Shrek makes it more for that audience.

This image is from a childrens animation show on BBC, obviously this is an animation of two girls however they are drawn into there own style. This could be an idea for ours aswell, rather than keeping it totaly real and making sure it looks correct we could do a character like this. As when you watch it you kind of go into that world and forget that a human dosent look like that but accept it as a human.

Catch a falling star...

So today we went into more detail on how we want to use animation. One of our main ideas was to do a children's animation, however base it on a children's book. One of my childhood books was a book called "Laura's Star" about a girl who looks after a broken fallen star and then mends it and send it up to the night sky again. This is a very sweet book and if we want keep the idea of real to animation then it can easily be done with this book as we could have a child looking out of a window then change to animation. Also as i said before we wanted to keep a continuous image linking the titles together, this could be done with a star.

Above are photos from the book "Laura's Star". Also another idea we had was to start the story with a fake model of the room then going into the real room.

saul bass research

Saul Bass first started out as a graphic designer, but felt there was time for a change in the way we view titles to a film. He wanted to make the symbols for films move and tell a story. Saul Bass says that the titles are the first interaction with the film, in being the first thing they see it has to draw the audience in keep them wanting to see the film that follows. The titles are the "climate for the story to unfold", in watching the titles you can get an idea in how the film will be, the titles normally reflect the film.

The man with the golden arm, was publicised first with just the picture or the arm. The image of the arm tells a bit about the story, the film is about a drug addiction and with the rough edges and its "jagged form" suggest the feeling of unstable. However when put into a title sequence the motion and sound adds to the image to make it that just bit more dramatic.

The titles for the man with the golden arm are very simple. A black background with white stripes, the stripes appear different places on the page and the titles adjust to appear around the stripes. Again the music is dramatic which adds to the viewing, in this sequence i don't think much is given away its plain however at the same time wants you to carry on watching.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eGnpJ_KdqZE

Soul bass wanted to change his titles even more and make it more realistic, where the movement is live action and natural. This was the next evolutionary step, to move a graphic image to piece together the film.

One of my favourite titles sequence by Soul Bass and one of my favourite musicals is West Side Story. The whole setting for the titles is on the street which reflects the story as the main setting is the streets. It is like a virtue map of the setting, like you are exploring the places. The names are written in like a graphite way to keep the urban theme but again allows us to explore freely rather that a bold name appearing in front of the image to distort us from the film behind. Another reason why i like it written on the wall is that it is so busy with lots of writing but slowly you find yourself being drawn in to the text that is slightly getting bolder to catch out attention. The camera is so smooth and relaxing which goes with the pleasant but at the same time dramatic music over the top.

The last title sequence i looked at was North By Northwest, i have never seen the film so couldn't tell if the title reflected the film. However just by watching the you get a sense it is set in a busy uptown place. The titles are very clear and bold and are placed over the top if a minty green lined back ground. Everything seems to have its placed, like it has been measured perfectly so everything is in time and so straight. Compared to The Man With The Golden Arm where the lines are slant, you can clearly see the difference in the two films that maybe the characters are more stable in North By Northwest by just the simple lines on the titles. Towards the end the background dissolves and revels a backdrop of a glass building which has a reflection of a New York street. Even though the background has changed the line that were previously there are perfect fit the line on the building, again suggesting order. The film starts while the titles are still appearing, like the two have intertwined. Also North By Northwest being an Alfred Hitchcock film has himself appearing waiting for a bus.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI

Soul Bass has done many title sequences for Alfred Hitchcock and other big hollywood film directors which proves he is one of the best.

Research

We are still interested in doing animation and have been looking more at animations titled sequence. Talking about it today we realised how many drawings/pictures we are going to need. In google i typed in "how to make an animated titled sequence" and i got this website that shows loads of titled sequence that are animated , which helps with ideas.
http://mmbase.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences/index.jsp?collection=22157&listpage=1

My favourite titles are the ones that have a continuous object guiding you through the names. I would like to add this in ours too.

The Beginning...

Today, we got set the brief to create an opening and titled sequence of a fiction film. In my group I have decided to work with Taranpreet Dhooper and Rebecca Hammond, I think we will work well as a group as we each have individual skills that we can bring together. We are currently thinking of ideas for our opening sequence and researching on YouTube for examples in which we can get some ideas. We all would like to work with animation of some kind for out titled sequence and be looking at examples to see how it is done. The opening films that i like that use animation are Run Lola Run and Catch Me If You Can both films start with real action then change into animation both use different ways in how they link the two.

This is a link to the opening title of Catch Me If You Can, when you have watched the film and look back on this you can see that it is telling the story in the animated scene.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLDyrun_Cc