Time Machine Symposium

Time Machine

Melancholy Walk Cycle

Walk Cycle 1

Maya Texturing 2



Unit 5 OGR part 1

unit 5 ogr

Maya Rigging (Spine)

Meg Chair Stand

Meg's Workshop

@ Alan Unit 3 Maya Texturing

The Subway

An old college animation

Character Design

Out of my three story ideas for my hand drawn animation I got the most positive feedback from stories 1 and 2. As they both are centred around the relationship between a stepladder and its owner I drew up a quick character design of what the owner could potentially look like.

Life Drawing

For this weeks life drawing we was given the task of drawing the subject in a variety of poses which aimed to encapsulate her emotions. 

 Depressed

Rage

Frightened

Maya Rigging

Week One (Leg Rigging)

Leg rigging complete. I will upload a walk/moving cycle soon

Maya Pre Viz

Initial Loglines

1.

*An old, over used step ladder covered in splats of paint is being stood on by a decorator,
* Varnish drops from the decorator's brush onto the step ladder, covering the already filthy surface,
* The painter walks out the room,
* The step ladder slumps and lets out a sigh,
* Begins to reminisce about its life and being a brand new step ladder,
* Cuts back to the decorator entering with cleaning products and turps to restore the ladder back to its original self.


2.

*In a hardware store new, macho looking metal ladders are stood proudly in the window all being sold to manual labourers,
* An old, miserable grandad step ladder made of tatty wood is looking on through the stockroom door and is depressed at seeing all these new ladders being sold to good homes,
* The big, burly metal ladders mock the old ladder,
* An old man enters the store looking for a step ladder, all the metal ladders line up in unison and stick their chests out like proud soldiers.
* The old man doesnt like the look of them but sees the old ladder through a partially opened door of the darkened stock room.
*His eyes light up and he purchases the old ladder.


3.

* An unused ladder seeks attention from an overweight owner who is too lazy to do chores around the house.
* The ladder tries to set up events which will make the owner use it e.g throwing the remote control for the tv up on a high shelf.
* Due to his laziness the owner constantly finds ways around these problems.
* The ladder just about gives up trying and sits depressed in the closet when something unexpected happens and the lazy owner rushes to use him.

Using Basic Shapes

When constructing a character they should be drawn using basic shapes. This is one of the fundemental elements of character design. Depending on what type of character you wish to draw certain shapes should be used.

Even Mickey Mouse, perhaps one of the most recognised cartoons is constructed out of simple circles and cylinders. For my step ladder I will be using squares and perhaps cylinders for the legs.

Inanimate Objects Research

One of the most recognised and successful inanimate object animations is Pixar's lamp and jr lamp. John Lasseter in an interview for BBC documentary 'From Pencils to Pixels' stated  "It is important to identify its face and head." In the obvious case of the lamps it is the lamp shade which is the head and the bulb representing the face.



Paul Lavey's 'The Lascivious Broom' however focuses on using the broom head to move like human legs giving the broom its character which is also successful.



After looking at these two animations it is clear to see that areas of the object that could relate to the human anatomy is what gives the object its structure and can establish how the character might look or move.

Character Research: Animated Melancholy Characters

When looking into animated characters with a melancholy personality the first character that came to mind was Eeyore, the gloomy, depressed stuffed donkey from Winnie-the-Poo. This character could influence my melancholy step ladder by his posture and manner in which he moves. Eeyore is presented as being depressed by his slouched posture and his limbs, ears and even eyes being droopy.

Tex Avery's 'Droopy' is another character which shows the traits associated with a melancholy personality. Droopy's name comes from the obvious droopy face associated with a basset hound dog which express sadness.

Unit 5: Animation

The Melancholy Step Ladder

Melancholy:

1. a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression.

                        2. sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness

The inanimate object I drew from the group was a step ladder with a melancholy personality

UNIT 4 Presentation

Ollie Presentation

Spaceman Concept