Work for the 11 sec club october competition. Missed the deadline but will still finish this up.

A look at the logic sound file of my final film. Quite a few layers. I'm not an expert on logic but I think a was able to produce something that sounded all right in the end

A little look at the voice recording process. Every actor I worked with was very up to the task of helping me define characters and they all brought something unique to the process. Their contribution was as important as my role as animator

A cartoon by Disney Studios in 1934. This cartoon has an example of really good early character animation. Pluto the dog gets stuck in a fly trap and as he tries to free himself it just makes the situation worse. What I like about the bit is that in every step he takes the audience can see all of the thoughts pluto is having and are on the same wavelength as he is. It is as if the character is actually thinking about how he can solve a problem he is having.

"The Illusion of Life. pg 444"

The subject of the artists can reveal a lot about the artist. This is a small exert from a chapter that looks at how the animated character is a reflection of the animator.

The Illusion of Life by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas is one of my favourite books about animation that I own. It goes into depth not just the techniques of animating but also looks at the aspect of how to animate emotion. They also give important rules that animators should follow.

http://www.animationmeat.com/pdf/featureanimation/Glen_Keane_Animation.pdf

Here are some animating tips for the animator Glen Keane. He is most famous for his work with Walt Disney Studios and is one of the animators that inspire me. Using these tips help to inform how I worked on this project.

This was a quick color sketch I did very early on just to give myself some direction. I wanted to have a dark stage with a spotlight shone on the characters  to really emphasis the performance. I may just drop that idea if I don't have enough time at the end.

An update on my progress. The characters are starting to take shape and I am liking how they are coming along. This character is definitely one of the more bouncy of my characters. I am on schedule to finishing the bulk of the character animations by the 1st of August.

Here is some more examples of voice recordings I have done. - recording - Ava was kind enough to do some takes and I am very happy with what she gave me. I had an idea for a kid character and she gave me a lot of different takes, each different in personality.

Animation Rough

The progress so far of my animation. Right now I am working on getting the gestures and movemnts down, after which I will put down the final lines. It is very interesting how much the videos of the actors voicing the roles have help influence the actions of the characters and even how they look to an extent. Whenever I become stuck on how a character would act I look at the videos of my voice actors.

Story Idea

When I first had the Idea for an audition style animation I wanted it to be like this. I would put the character in a room and have the act in a less than formal setting. This could help bring out the performance of the character but it could also seem boring after a while. I think it works here because this people are heroes and we get to see the real side of them that isn't all heroic, also this is the first scene with the characters so it sets up a lot of what we see in the rest of the movies. I need to make this style work on its own but not be too bland

Cris

A friend on the course put me in contact with a former TV producer and I have had the oppertunity to talk to her about my work. It was very interesting discussing my ideas with someone outside the course but it did help to bring a few things to light that I had not thought about. I really need to think hard on how I present this animation, I am getting so caught up in how I want to explore this idea of acting and character that I am neglecting to make sure if it is enjoyable to watch. First and formost I want this piece of film to be entertaining and right now my ideas are a bland. Talking with Cris has helped to visualise the project a bit better and I am getting a clearer idea of the final project. I am toying with the idea of making the final film like an episode of creature comforts from Aardman. There won't be any animals but the designs of each character should relate to the way their dialogue is spoken. This is something I thought I could kind of get the actors to take care by getting them to fit into the roll. This has worked but I preferred when they made up their own characters, I felt them give a better performance and I could visualise the type of character that would talk that way.

It is still early days but I fell I have more to think about in terms of presentation and what I want the audience to feel.

Cris well be working with me through this project I I will be hoping to use her to get a better insight on her own experience as a producer

Rachel's Recording

A short take from my recording session with a few actors. I really liked what we came up with. The actors were really up for doing the own interpretations of characters and gave me a lot to work with. I will be designing more character based on this session. I may post up more takes. Link - Rachel's recording

The Audition

The Audition is the name of the short animated film that I will be making. The theme of the animation will be looking at the character and how he acts . It will put an emphasis the performance of characters and the role they inhabit. By looking at what makes a performance of any character compelling I hope to gain a better understanding of character acting and how to give a character that little bit of life that come across in all well animated characters. I will be using different voice actors who will all be reading from the same script, this will reinforce the idea of character and how each one is different. I really want to explore how actors can read a character differently and the character is dependent on the actor or in the case of animation animators.

I intend to gain a better insight of character acting by looking at certain animators of great characters. I will also work alongside actors with experiance in performing, to see how they get into character and see how they work and to see how they can add to the characters.

I think Bill Kroyer said it perfectly when he said  

"The whole idea of putting a soul in a character is the thing that an animator lives for. It really is a god like feeling to start with an inanimate object and do something to give it a life""So at the end of the day we really don't care what [a character] looks like as long as it connects with you; as long as it moves emotionally; as long as you believe [it contains] a soul."

At the end of the day I want to have something that connects with its audience. That when they watch them they believe in that character. 

The character designs I'm going with for my short animation. May add too the roster but for now here are my actors. I will give them each there own character reference sheet soon

Boy Character Design

Female character design development