Final Film

On The Fence Final Film


The password to access the film is "Lincoln2014"

Compositing and Editing

Animation for Daniel Escobar's Film 'Luminaria'

Daniel wanted some assistance and asked if I could animate the main character in one of his shots for him, as I had some free time and wanted to build up more work, I agreed.


This is the shot in question:

So without further ado, I video'd some reference: (mainly for the spin)

And animated the shot:

After blocking, first early spline test:

and then refinements:

Animation and Dynamics

This post will be a very, VERY long post all about the most detailed and intensive process during the production of this film; Animation. I will be posting my progress from the very earliest stages (which will probably be terrible for some shots) as I Act, Draw, Block, Act Again and again and again, Animate, Clean Up and so on of each shot, which will be labelled clearly. So read on!

SHOT 1:

Initial: (Needs Re-doing as it is so so so flat)

Re-worked:

I went about a better way of doing this shot. So I took some all important video reference first.

This was really really helpful to me.

Here is my reworked version of the shot, notice how much more texture the movement has, and how I incorporated my video reference into my work.

I then decided that this now needs more polish.

I'm definitely happier with this compared to my first attempt at animating the shot, by far!

SHOT 2: TITLE SHOT

Run Cycle:

Shot:

Neil: That's a real nice shot, I like it.

Next: Insert Kite into Shot.

Here is the Shot with the Kite now inserted into it. I did this in such a way so the Kite SWOOPS into the audience at the start, really giving a dynamic sense of movement and kickstarting the proceedings with a great feeling of immersion, as well as making it crystal clear what the object he is holding onto is! I also extended the shot, as it was going by far too quick, and just needed to settle into the title a little bit better.

SHOT 3:

NEW SHOT: SHOT 3.5

As I was approaching the end of the production process me and Hillary noticed a fickle problem with the film; why on earth was Sofia so angry? There was never really a clear explanation to this, and initially during the animatic stage we had thought out that the audience could derive their own explanation, the most obvious one being that she did not want anything to do with the boy with a strange bag on his head.

However, with the film running somewhat cohesively, it's clear that this is definitely an issue, and after much deliberation me and Hillary were able to insert a very simple, straightforward shot in between Shots 3 and 4 that explains everything:

A No Entry Sign. It's clear, it's cute, and the audience just knows that whoever lives on this farm, just wants to be left alone!

SHOT 4:

Initial:

Skirt and Hair:

Hillary Provided some notes to me saying that the shot should go in closer and also be longer, I made the necessary ammendments:

Me and Hillary also decided to turn Sofia's position around by 180 degrees, such that when she gets up she will already be facing Bagboy. I did this mainly because it would make animating Shot 8 ALOT more straightforward and easier.

And once the Skirt and Hair are added, the shot is done and dusted.

SHOT 5:

Block/Breakdown

Spline:

Hair:

Polish:

SHOT 8:

Initial: (This is rubbish, but just goes to show how much I have progressed)

V2: Block/Breakdown:

Spline:

Neil gave me critique on this animation which can be summarised as saying;

"Get up straight ahead stare, refine poses, the first take is not really necessary, better to settle into it"

However, as mentioned in my comments for Shot 4, me and Hillary reworked the staging of that shot to allow this shot to be less awkward, the whole getting up and turning around motion was extremely clunky. With the revamped Shot 4, it meant I was able to simplify things extensively and create this:

And then Polish and Dynamics:

SHOT 9:

Block/Breakdown:

Neil: Brilliant, looks really nice, maybe adjust his stretch?

Spline:

Hillary suggested that I ought to keep his hand held up in the air before he catches his bag for a few frames more, just to make sure the audience can see the shape and silhouette of what it is exactly, and to perfect the timing.

Hillary Critique:

Shot Complete with Kite:

SHOT 10:

Initial created in December 2013: (Looking back, this is absolutely appalling animation and needs re-doing (Kill it with fire), again it's incredible how much I've improved since this poor excuse of a walk cycle!)

Video Reference:

Block:

Spline Test:

Spline:

Polish:

Polish 02:

SHOT 11:

Initial Old Version, which was pretty bad:

Spline of the Re-Worked version:

Polish:

Polish 02:

SHOT 12:

Initial Old Version:

Re-worked Spline:

Spline Polish:

SHOT 13 & 14:

Block/Breakdown:

Spline 00:

Spline 01:

Spline 02:

 

Spline 03:

I had critique come in from Hillary, Neil and Chris Bacon (one of my Animation Mentor's working in the Industry):

Neil: "Much better, but the starting gag could use some movement of the body with it, (commit to the gag), and as he steps back think of more follow through with hips and overlapping action with hand"

Hillary: I am not sure if that starting gag is quite necessary.

Tutor Critique Re-Do:

I basically cut out a lot of the start (mainly to save time as it really wasn't adding anything) to eliminate many of the problems. Not the most elegant solution, but this is a shot I needed to revisit from ground up, and time is of the essence.

SHOT 15:

Block:

Spline:

Polish & Dynamics:

SHOT 15.1 (New Addition):

Block/Breakdown:

Spline:

Spline 02:

Spline 03:

Spline 04:

Spline 05:

Neil: Your best shot yet keep it up, maybe reduce his animation slightly, but otherwise spot on.

Charlotte: Thumbs Up.

SHOT 16, 17 & 18:

Block//Breakdown 01:

Block/Breakdown 02:

Spline:

Silhoutte Spline:

Sequence Spline 01:

Sequence Spline 02:

Sequence Spline 03:

Sequence Spline 04:

Sofia's Animation in these shots was pretty poor and so I decided to rework it:

SHOT 18.1 (New Addition)

Me and Neil came to the conclusion that to best show Sofia untying the kite is to do it clearly, and directly. Therefore I more or less used the same camera angle from Shot 15.1 but reversed what was going on: rather than Bagboy tying the knot to the string, Sofia would be pulling the string off the Picket. It just made sense as it was quick and effective.

Layout

Spline:

Polish:

SHOT 19: (This shot has been cut)

This will change if I have the time.

SHOT 20:

Deleted Segment:

Instead the shot will follow the animatic as originally planned:

SHOT 21:

SHOT 22:

Run Cycle:

Improved Run Cycle: This was to give the cycle a better sense of urgency.

Final Shot:

SHOT 23:

Quick Thumbnails:

Video and Line Test for Last Head Drop:

Line Test for SUBSEQUENT Head Rise:

Block/Breakdown:

"bhGhost" Proof of Concept Blocking:

Spline 01:

Next steps: Make stumble slightly snappier, adjust arms on final land perhaps too symmetrical.

Polish:

Shot 24:

SHOT 25:

This shot became much, much more than what it initially was. After creating it according to the animatic me and the team realised we could really stretch this gag further. In the vain of Seth Mcfarlane (Family Guy), there are some gags that can be stretched to go from being slightly funny, to not funny to funny all over again, and we believed this could be the gag.

It's great as it occurs exactly half way through the film and breaks it up nicely!

Polish:

SHOT 26 + 27: (Laura Knighton's Animation)

For this shot I had to insert the Kite String and Dynamics into it:

The above effect of the string being tied around the picket was achieved using a new rig I created using nHair's combined with a cylindrical surface which is influenced by the hair CV movements.

SHOT 28: (Reworking some of Laura Knighton's Animation)

For this shot, Laura had produced some animation which was not up to the same standard as the rest of the film. Despite my best efforts to convince her to revisit herself, she was adamant in her ways and refused to complete the task for me. Therefore I took it unto myself to rework the shot.

You can see Shot 28 originally here: http://lauraknighton3rdyear.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Animation

Spline 01 of my reworking:

Sofia's reaction is MUCH more natural than what had initially been created. 

Yet, me and Neil watched a run-through of the film and realised that Sofia is a character who isn't easily surprised or taken aback, I mean, she is focussed and does not want this kid around, so it made sense to simplify her animation to bare bones and keep the focus on him:

SHOT 31 and SHOT 33: (Kite Animation)

This shot was done using only the Kite Rig I had created:

For this shot I had to use a combination of the Kite Rig Dynamics with a Manual Kite Rig that I had rigged to key frame by frame, this allowed me to create much more exciting animation like this below:

Block:

Spline:

SHOT 37:

This shot differs from the animatic, in the animatic Sofia is seen tending to the ranch, however as the production process was well underway I began to get a much better feel of Sofia's character by this point and it was clear to me what this shot should consist of. All this time since the start of the film Sofia has just wanted to relax, to chill out. And now she's finally getting that chance, so she's sat up against the tree, nothing but calm on her face until she sees something so incredible it actually makes her get up and gasp in awe.

Camera 1:

Camera 2:

Camera 1 Dynamics:

Camera 2 Dynamics:

SHOT 37.5 (New Addition)

Me and Neil decided that before we cut to Shot 38, there ought to be a shot of the Heart Kite in all it's glory. This made sense.

SHOT 38, 39:

Layout:

Spline inc. Dynamics:

Shot Complete:

39 Initial: (Terrible)

Revision:

Amended:

Complete:

Shot 40:

Layout:

Video Reference:

Video Reference 2: Please excuse mandatory crotch shot

Complete:

Dynamics Polish Again:

SHOT 41:

Camera 1:

Camera 2:

SHOT 42:

Block:

Spline:

Polish:

Polish 02:

Shot 43:

Initial: (Terrible)

Initial 2: (Also Terrible)

Re-Do: 

Neil: What's going on here? The timing and spacing is way off in some areas! And the last catch of the Spindle just doesn't work.

Charlotte: I agree with the spacing issue, but I think the rest works well, and the last catch is quite nice.

Contrasting views are interesting, I will now make my own decision based on this critique of where to take this shot.

Final:

SHOT 44:

Video Ref 1:

Video Ref 2:

Video Ref 3:

Block/Breakdown:

Spline:

Neil: Looks like you don't have enough keyframes in that first head-drop as the spacing is off. Also the head is dropping in a V-Arc not a smooth arc. Also the eyes are darting too much. Nice take though.

Neil Feedback Revision:

Final Polish:

SHOT 45:

Video Reference:

Block/Breakdown:

Spline with Dyamics and Camera:

SHOT 46:

Video Ref:

Video Ref 2:

Spline:

Spline polish:

Dynamics:

Final:

SHOT 47

Video Reference:

Block:

Spline:

Dynamics:

SHOT 50: (Laura Knighton's Animation)

I had to choreograph the Kites sequence in this shot.

01:

02:

03:

SHOT 51: 

SHOT 52: (Laura Knighton's Animation)

Sofia Dynamics:

Kites:

SHOT 53: (Laura Knighton's Animation)

Kite Dynamics:

SHOT 54: (Laura's Animation)

Sofia Dynamics

SHOT 55: (Laura's Animation)

All Dynamics:

SHOT 56: (Laura's Animation)

All Dynamics:

SHOT 57: (Laura's Animation)

All Dynamics:

SHOT 58:

Because Laura insisted she was unable to animate this shot, I took it upon myself to go ahead and animate it. 

Block:

Initial Spline:

Spline 02:

Spline 03:

Polish and Dynamics:

SHOT 59: (Laura's Animation)

All Dynamics:

SHOT 60:

This was another shot Laura refused to animate for me, hence I took it upon myself to animate it;

All animation and Dynamics:

Sofia's Skirt and Hair Dynamics

I knew one of the most difficult aspects would be creating believable dynamics for Sofia's Skirt and Hair. So what better way to overcome this than by creating the dynamics and attaching her hair and skirt to the most difficult shot dynamics wise?

So I position the Skirt to where I need it to attach from, I turn this into an Ncloth and use either a TRANSFORM or POINT TO SURFACE Constraint (Dependent on situation, here we use a TRANSFORM Constraint because she is not moving.) 

Then the difficult part begins:

I turned her body into a Passive Collider.

I created a small Plane as the Skirt would be hitting the ground and so would need to react to it, turning the ENTIRE Farm Surface into an nRigid would be ridiculous as Sofia only occupies a small space in the scene, so I created a Plane used the 'Transfer Attributes' function to it so that the new Plane Conforms to the shape of the farm plane, I adjusted this then deleted its history so my Plane is clean once again.

I turned this New Plane into a Passive Collider also. This worked, all I had to do now was adjust my settings for the Skirt nCloth and that was it.

Likewise with the Hair because my colliders were already set up it was a simple case of positioning it...

Applying my Transform constraint:

And then adjusting the nCloth settings such that it is fairly rigid and resists bending and moving too much in this particular shot.

Shot 45 Dynamics

Using a tutorial from Digital Tutors:

http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/1459-Creating-a-Wind-Blown-Leaves-Simulation-using-nCloth-in-Maya#play-38666

I was able to adjust what this tutorial taught to create a simulation of Bagboy's Heart Kite being run over, a pivotal point in the story. I knew that this shot would have to be brutal yet dark humoured so there was no excuse to not go all the way and totally rip his kite to shreds!


Test No. 1:

Test No. 2:

Beginning to achieve the desired effect:

Complete: