Stop Frame Animation

Creating the animation

In this blog I will be showing my experiments in animation. All images were taken using a Fuji Finepix S1900 Bridge camera on an octopus tripod. The majority were filmed indoors unless stated otherwise. When using artificial lighting, I used 2 desk lamps positioned either side of the set and an overhead light to even things out and reduce shadow. The quality of the photographs were too high for the animation programme I was using so on realising this, I then found and image resizing programme through which I processed all of my images before finally uploading to Gifmaker to convert to an animation. In Gifmaker, I was able to choose the speed I wanted my animation to run at – frames per second. As you will see throughout my experiments this was a thing that took a while to get right.

Body Animation Hand

Hand trial

This is my first attempt at animation, I thought an initial experiment of 11 frames would help me understand some basics. I have read on the About tech website that 24 frames is the traditional, but the number ranges up to 30 in some digital and as low as 7 in Japanese manga animation.

The 12 Principles of Animation

Animation Principles

During my experiments in animation I will incorporate as many of these principles as possible where appropriate. 

 Anticipation: This is used to prepare and engage the audience prior to a major action the character is about to perform . It can be done in many ways,one example would be if the character were about to jump, the preparation for this would be to bend it's knees in 'anticipation' of the jump.

 Direction/Staging: This is the consideration of a number of elements that will communicate to the audience the mood and attitude of the character. It will portray the reaction or idea of the character within the tail. It is the effective application of background design which will work in harmony with  the characters, props, scenery in depicting the desired image. Scene length is also part of this principle, camera angle and lighting. It also directs the attention of the audience in relation to the story. In short its about all the right things being in all the right places at the right time to best get across the story being told.

Squash and Stretch : This is actions that will depict and describe weight and volume in a character during its movement, whether it be whole body movement or facial expression. It can be used in varying degrees depending on the speed/reaction/drama required. 

Straight Ahead : This relates to the drawing sequence method, drawing one consecutive frame after another. This method has its pros and cons. On one hand the form,volume and scale can be tricky to maintain, but on the other hand there is a freedom and rawness which has it's own appeal. This method lends itself to scenes which aim to convey rapid action.

Pose to Pose : This method of drawing firstly considers the full movement/scene right from the start. The move will be broken down into key stages, these drawings will be done with spaces in between that will be later filled in. By doing this the cons that we found in the Straight Ahead method are addressed. This method would at times be shared between the main animator and their junior, the senior animator then can focus their time on planning. Both Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose are generally used along side each other.

 Follow Through : This refers to when a character comes to a halt but their limbs and or attire will continue along its trajectory for a period.

Overlapping : This brings realism and fluidity to the animation by making some parts of the body or clothing lead- move first- and some parts of the body are following- move later. This can also happen for a short period if the character changes direction, if you imaging how a skirt would naturally move when the wearer turns the material takes a while to stop after the wearer has stopped.

Slow Out and Slow In : This method in animation can create a more life like appearance. If you imagine when you accelerate in a car it takes time to pick up speed and when you break it also takes time to slow down. So by creating more frames at the beginning of the action and more at the end, these two parts appear slower and then there is a sense of anticipation and follow through. In my 1st sea animation the limpets move in and out of the frame in this manner.

Arcs: In my animation of the paper cut out person arcs are traced by the movement of the limbs, arcs are the lines natural movements follow.

Secondary Action : This is an action that enhances the action that is going on. It creates a fuller character, as they walk the legs move , this is the primary action, also to  swing the arms and have the body move up and down with the steps is all secondary action that creates a fuller experience for the viewer.

Timing : This needs to be considered in a couple of ways, not only in the fast and slow combination of actions (see above for slow in and slow out, more pics mace action smooth, less make it fast) but also in the actual acting of the characters. The speed in acting can enhance and create mood, signify response and also describe emotion.

Exageration : This should not be used excessively, but when used selectively it will make the animation more life like. Strangely if animation apes life directly it can come across as stiff and dull. So this principle should be used carefully so as not to come across overly dramatic.

Solid drawing : This is simply to use movement, shade, colour, contour and perspective to create the illusion of 3 dimensions, weight, form and volume. Movement through time is the 4th dimention

Appeal : This is about making the audience best able to relate to the character, creating personality in character. By careful consideration and use of the other principles appeal should certainly be beginning to be created.

Ludvig- Paper animation

Paper cut out animated series

Ludwig is an animated series of 25 x 4 minute episodes, made by the Czechoslovakian  father and son team, Mirek and Peter Lang in the seventies. 
Ludvig was basic in many ways but incredibly well thought out in its subtleties, due to the makers having English as their second language there was a simple narration by John Glover (iludvig 2013) This avoided the need for lip syncing.
Ludvig was a great lover of Beethoven so the predominant soundtrack was various pieces by this composer. Ludvig also played violin, which would be produced from one of his many faceted secret compartments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ThMmLVWZo8

Ludvig was a mechanical creature and the presentation of him in the animation is quite jerky, I wonder if his personality and appearance came to being because of their technique, they began at home;basic equipment, kitchen table. Was it the resulting appearance that informed the character?  The light is constantly changing in the cartoon which for me watching as a child didn't bother me in the slightest and now when I watch adds to the atmosphere. This is partly the reason I have not set up 'studio lighting conditions' in some of my experiments as I just wanted to see if the animation was enhanced in any way by this occurrence of changing light. You can see my attempt at paper cut out animation in the Walk Cycle post.
As I am currently finding, the more frames per second; less movement from frame to frame, makes for a much smoother animation. So the mechanization of Ludvig is made more believable by the jerky movements. Also with the choice of small animals and birds, they are all naturally twitchy in their movement, constantly on their guard as they are all prey to larger creatures. If I imaging this cartoon with horses and cows, which naturally move much more fluidly it would look very odd. I feel this is a key discovery which I will consider in my experiments; turning limitations into assets.  
He was found by magpies and dropped off in the forest, it is unclear where he is from but he is an alien of sorts. It is clear that he is unfamiliar with the objects he finds which have been discarded by humans. The makers were very interested in lateral thinking and logic puzzels and this comes through in the animation as Ludvig presents the animals with his scavenged objects and they then proceed to laterally work out the use of the items.

This cartoon, though quite 'off the wall' in that familiar 70's way, it still was i feel educational. It sparked imagination and didn't take the direct route to solve the problems that were presented in each episode.

Walk-cycle-Paper Cut Out

Paper cut out

I chose to use a paper cut out for my first experiment in effecting a walk cycle. I was able to obtain this image of the stages and so able to study the 'rise and fall' and the 'arcs' created by the limbs in hope of creating the most natural flow possible.

In this experiment of primary action I am concentrating on the movement with no regard, as yet, to character and appeal . I am reasonably happy with my representation, the body is well proportioned and moves quite smoothly. I have a shadow across the bottom of the image which I would need rectify by better lighting: 2 point lighting

I researched a 80s animation which you can see in the Ludvig post. I feel the movement that is created in this style of animation definitely adds to that atmosphere of the image. I feel it wouldn’t take too much work on my part to achieve a reasonable standard in this House style. Though I’m in the early stages of my experience and am not greatly drawn to this style.

I found the split pins good in that they gave great freedom of movement but this also had to be closely monitored or I could have joints bending in the wrong direction – this may be a plus if I were doing a comical scene. Also the pin backs can catch on other limbs so I had to trim some and cover some with tape at the back to remedy this. I also had to use bluetac on the back of the head and bottom because I initially found when I moved an arm for example, the leg could also move. If I pursue this method, I may split the torso into chest, stomach and bottom to give a less stiff appearance. The animators of Ludvig have removed this problem by trying to represent a human by creating a walking egg – this may well be a good idea, the movement can become part of the character.

Landscape photo Animation

Experimenting outdoors

Sunrise

In this short animation I thought it would be interesting to do a time laps of the sun rising. Depending on how far I get in my animation experiments and skills I wonder if I might use this as a back drop for a hand rendered animation which I'm sure I would be able to do in Photo shop.

Cemetary

With the weather being so unpredictable, which causes the light levels to change dramatically very quickly, I decided to shoot at night. By doing this I could change the aperture and exposure settings on my camera, allowing in as much or as little light as I wanted. This gave me full control. As above I hope I may draw onto these in Photo shop-time allowing.

White Board-The Mark Maker

White Board Animation

This is a short animation I found by the artist Johnny Lawrence. Right from the beginning he incorporates his hand in the filming. It is a series of images which become absorbed into a new image, constantly morphing and moving. Through this he is playing with perspective, form and volume. It's appeal is so absorbing even though there seems to be little narrative initially, the meaning does all become apparent. I enjoyed the loose line he uses, and the fluidity of the movement is beautiful. I would have really liked to have seen his story board, by the amount of changes am sure it would have been very long and fascinating.

I can see in at certain points in the animation there is 2 areas of reflection on the white board where Johnny must be using 2 point lighting, it wasn't very noticeable only that I was actually looking for it.  I just used single point, overhead lighting in mine combined with natural back light. I like the atmosphere I have created by the constant changes in light levels as the sun comes and goes. I also chose to work in monochrome, though an accent color could have been very effective in my final frames. I was unable to obtain any information on his methods. Unlike my work, his black or lack of it is pretty crisp where as mine is rather more murky. He works very cleanly.