Bright Side – Finished

Password: sunny123

This is it! The link to the final version of ‘Bright Side.’ The idea for this short started over a year ago. As a scribble on a few posted-notes, after a brainstorming session alone in my bedroom. Now it’s it as a fully CG 4 minute long animated short, which is very exciting.

It’s been a tough trek developing the idea over 8 moths or so, but now the feeling of accomplishment makes the blood, sweat and tears all worth it.

The overall narrative from start-middle-end has stayed relatively the same. Though the project was able to grow from feedback and guidance, all which I am grateful for. I am also grateful for Natasha agreeing to come on board and help me make my idea into a reality.

I thoroughly enjoyed each stage from start to finish. I was able to show off my skills in areas such as modelling/texturing which I have a keen interest in. As well I enjoyed developing my skills in other areas that I did not have as much experience in, such as animating and rigging.

I’m thrilled to be able to share it with animation companies at the end of year show… but also thrilled to be able to finally present it to our lecture’s and friends/family as they have been a big part of this journey as well. Helping me through the stress and late nights with their support.

I plan to defiantly incorporate the film into my showreel and enter it into various film festivals.  I am so pleased and proud of the final outcome and it’s message… ‘imperfections are what you special see and you CAN be happy and feel fulfilled, even if not with tea.”

 

 

 

Final Presentation Edit and Changes

Password: sorchasmells123

This was the our first draft of our ‘finished’ film which we presented for the Final Presentation. We considered it done as all of the planned animations had been completed as well as all of the rendering. The narration was also ready to be edited on top.

However we knew there would be changes that would have to be made after today’s feedback session which we were more than willing to incorporate to create a final film.

FEEDBACK

Alec, Mike and Helen suggested we change the following:

• The narration sounded too much like a news report. Either find a new narrator or edit the existing to be shorter and slower.
• Think about adding music
• Increase the amount of close ups, to make sun bigger and clearer on screen
• Fix Granny inspection animation (looks like lid would fall off if it were happening in real life)
• Redo travelled guy lifting the teapot away from counter animation (looks too aggressive)
• Add a squash and stretch to teapot
• Add motion blur to the sun

 

We took on board all of the changes that were advised and made a list of what we advice we wanted to follow… taking into consideration the time we had left and our own creative visions about how WE wanted it to be.

CHANGES THAT WERE MADE

• We made an executive decision to remove the narration altogether as we were able to get a score for the film that we loved. The music gave it a new feel and made the narration unnecessary.
• We re-rendered some shots so that the teapot was closer to the camera but also cheated some other scenes by scaling the footage up in After Effects
• Natasah made adjustment to the Granny’s inspection of the teapot animation
• I added motion blur to the sun zooming around the teapot of fixed it’s animation
• We re-rendered the scenes that had a sun texture animation applied when it was not animated, using higher quality images so they didn’t look as pixelated

 

CHANGES THAT WERN’T

• We did not add squash and stretch to the teapot as we liked the strong contrast between the squishy/bouncy sun character and it’s hard/fragile shell. It added to the idea it was very breakable. We wanted the focus to be solely on the sun, as the sun was the only alive charter, the teapot was not
• We did not redo the animation of the travelled guy lifting the teapot away as we liked how it came across as aggressive. If he had of lifted it gently it would have taken away the illusion that the guy was wanting to harm him with the pen etc. It set tension and hinted at a more violent end meaning the ‘happily ever after’ end was more of a surprise

 

Final Presentation

We managed to get ‘finished’ for the final presentation and were the only team to do so. Getting ALL of our animation and rendering done to a satisfactory standard… before going on to make small changes for the hand-in on the 14th May 2018.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LjV5f2ZQxCGCViXD-Z2HjeAAEmNCvXCyYokTClQj4Qo/edit

 

In this we were given the chance to demonstrate our the progress from the year and our current progress to the lectures and to the class for the last time. We were really proud of being able to show something that could be considered done and we really appreciated the round of applause. The feedback we got was mainly positive, though Alec, Mike and Helen were all able to give us some really good advice for how we could go on to better the movie which we appreciated as well and which we would heed…

We talked about changed we knew we wanted to make ourselves and talked about the intentions we had of taking on the feedback we would get from this presentation and how we would incorporate it into our completed version.  

 

We talked about changes we had made to our previous version of the film. 

 

We gave a brief comparison of the finished version and the first animatic, talking about the major development in narration  

 

We spoke about our mission statement.

• We talked about our consistency in design.
• We mentioned our intention to keep the idea simple, as we knew our own levels and although we planned to push ourselves and learn this year we also wanted to be realistic and plan a project that would be doable in the time frame we had.
• We pushed the fact we were the only team to meet the deadline which was this presentation as we though it demonstrated how hard we both have worked and how we were able to managed our project and time efficiently.
• We also pushed the fact we did it ourselves with no outside help from other classes etc. with the exception of some rigging help from Blayne and Alec.

 

 

 

Animation Shot List

The completed shot list!

 

I put together this shot-list, that would help both Natasha and myself keep track of what what needed doing and what had been done – animation/compositing/rendering wise. It really did a good job at allowing the project to run smoothly. We were able to grab shot numbers and actions almost instantly with a glace. Being able to update each other through a labelling a colour code system online helped update us on each other’s progress and made it easier for us to stay on top on deadlines and also plan ahead.

3D Charity Shop Layout

Planning

I set up the scene for the Charity Shop,  taking all the props I’d modelled I merged them together to make a room. This is the end result and how I had the finalised shop looking. I’m happy because the layout also compliments the camera angles I had planned as well. You can always see something in the background of the shop so that it looks more filled at all times… it’s kind of small but the layout does draw influence from first hand research into Charity Shop layouts, that I’ve described in previous blog posts.

Research

I already had an idea about the layout, as I created this blue print (based on visits to Charity Shops that I’ve explained in previous blog posts.). This rough layout was drew up before most of the modelling was able to model around this layout, keeping in mind where this would go and what would fit really helped me create a believable looking shop.

Creative Futures

Display Concept

This is my concept for how I think my display will look. I’ve labelled it alphabetically to explain what’s happening in each section:

A. Here I would like to have an expression sheet for the sun, four sepatre images reflecting a range of emotions from our main character.

B. Here will be the short’s poster, that’ll make clear which project I worked on.

C.  This will be my area to incorporate a professional picture of myself, also a bio of who I am and what my skills are. We plan on having these similar as a class, using a layout Abigail mocked up.

D. Here will be some nice rendered of the short and of the stuff I worked on… they’ll include environments, assets and character’s.

E. I will have either a Mac or my Laptop here that will play on loop the Bright Side short or I’m thinking perhaps my showreel?

F. I want to have a selection of printed business cards available at my desk, just so if people want to contact me they can.

G. My plan is to buy a white teapot and using a small projector I have at home, I want to project the sun (which will be rendered on a white background) onto this teapot. This extra amount of effort should hopefully please people. It’d also be a pretty magical thing to watch.

Bright Side Promo Plan 

These were some posters I created! They acted as concepts as I created them in Photoshop, and the final version would probably have to be drew up in Illustrator so we could print it big. I liked these designs (the blue background being my favourite) as I feel it sells the feel and style of the short. It’s quite cute, having the sun peeking over the teapot suggests the sun is alive and can move around the pot which is why I opted not to have the sun centred.

Contributions to the EYOS

JAM Invites

As I am working in JAM Media, it’s been pretty easy for me to invite them to our EOYS. The directors and producers Niall Mooney, Richard Gordon and Caoimhe Cassidy have promised they will come which I am happy about, I appreciate their effort. I’m sure it’ll be very exciting for them to see what can come out of this course. It’ll also be very exciting for the class, as the opportunity to display they’re work and sell themselves as professionals might be what leads them to a job in JAM. I’m also very chuffed to have my friends come in from JAM to support me.

Logo Designs

This was supposed the final two versions from which people could could vote from a joint effort of the 2D version from the branding committee and a 3D version I did by myself.

This was the poll I created on Facebook, and the final vote from this poll was supposed to be our final logo design but of course things changed. Everyone went back to the drawing board, as I believe there was too many cook in the kitchen and not enough people were happy with these designs for either of them to be finalised.

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2.

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Mike suggested a 3D logo was an ‘expected’ and ‘obvious’ choice so I decided to bring my designed in to Maya and make them in 3D.

1. For all I used the very first logo I’d created for the base but then I kept with the navy/gold colour scheme the rest of the Branding team decided on. I found it hard to incorporate the ‘i’ in this 3D version so improvised a little. I just had a capital ‘I’ in this version with the ball at the side, though I though the gold was a bit to dark and mustard like.
2. I liked this version because I think it looks the most professional. The idea of the gold ‘i’ just being a cuboid and a sphere I think represents the ‘3D’ element of the course.
3. The third version I also liked as I believe the ‘ball’ reflects the famous ‘bouncy ball’ in animation. Though the ball was a bit too small perhaps and distracted from the rest of the letters and overall logo. Though this version was the one most people liked the best so I went on to use this one for  vote.

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2.

We went back to ‘ANIM18’ so the branding the committee took my original version as this seemed popular with the class. Rachel and Abigail threw together a navy/gold version that reflects the University colours. From what they sent back I went on to make certain small changed and versions.

1. The team had given me a design in which the gold dot above the ‘i’ looked a bit like coffee stain (in my opinion.) So I tried changing certain things about this aspect. In the first opinion about I tried to make it look cool and quite technical.

2. In the second option I tried to incorporate a camera shutter, as it’s a showing of the films it might represent this. Though a lot of people mentioned it looked to much like a ‘photography’ logo rather than ‘animation.’

 

These were the second set of logo designs I created, because at this point the name had changed to ‘AN1M8.’ Also there was talk of a hexagonal theme throughout the branding.

I tried first to create a nice colourful style that would pop and draw your attention quickly.

Though I was out numbered in the branding committee, and this style was put to the back of the shelf to make room for a preferred colour scheme.  Which was either blue/grey or orange/turquoise. So I made two more versions fitting this palette.

This was the very first logo I created for the EOYS. I rustled it up in just a few minutes, in order to give the class something to work with and to give people an idea for what the logo might look like.

ANIM18

It was myself that came up with the name ‘ANIM18′ for the end of year show. I was at home one night brainstorming some idea’s and it kind of just came to me. I like a pun and the ’18’ sounds like ‘-ing’ so I believed it worked well.

Presenting Pub Quiz

It was my job to present the pub quiz, this quiz was in order to raise money for our EOYS.

I asked the questions and kept the quiz going, I also tried to keep in interesting and fun. This was the perfect role for me as I’m someone that enjoys being the centre of attention, so I thought it was a very easy way in which I could help-out.

It was really nice to be in a casual environment with employers  and gave everyone the chance to talk to them.

Preparations For The Future

Business Card –

I’d never created a business card before, so this was my first time. I’m overall happy with the outcome as I believe the design reflects my colourful personality and myself as an artist.

I got the pineapple in there as this has became my logo/brand, a pineapple is spread across my CV, website, blog etc. so it seemed fitting.

I wanted to put all of the information on the front rather than have a front and back, so that anyone looking at it could grab my contact details quickly.

I decided to brand myself as a CG Artist, because that is my role in JAM Media. I don’t specialise in one thing though I think the term ‘generalist’ is overused and covers a wide ride of areas, but I wanted to limit myself to CGI.

Final Design:

Research –

These were some business cards I liked and that I knew I wanted to take influence from when it came to creating my own. I liked the simplicity, the ‘cartoony-ness’, also the colour palette.

 

CV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clothes Rail

Artistic

These were the models/textures I got done for the clothes rail. I tried to incorporate a range of designs to emphasise randomness as this Charity Shop’s target market can be anyone. I tried using some bright warm colours as this again is the look and feel I’m trying to incorporate into the short.

I included some jumpers, t-shirts and some different styles of hat including a sunshade wicker hat to suggest another weather metaphor.

I had fun using leopard print here as this is a style myself am fond of and gave this prop a personal touch…

 

 

Technical

I had thought about using Cloth Sims to create these clothes however as they would feature in the background and never be very visible on screen I though this was a bit of a waste of time.

I decided to just model the clothes around reference images using a plane which I would then duplicate and reverse and then join as seams. The way actual clothes would be made. I organised the UV’s around this have the front, back and arms as separate pieces to give the illusion of different pieces of the same material.

I would end up using just a cloth normal map I found on the internet to give these props some realism. I could have spent way more time on learning how to texture clothes properly though at this stage it wasn’t necessary though would be when it comes to texturing the clothes our human characters will be wearing as they will be a lot more visible.

 

Research

I researched pictures of clothes rails to get an idea of what I wanted for my Charity Shop. I didn’t want anything too big or too fancy as this would be another prop that would be in the background and wouldn’t be very big on screen or on scree for very long. having visited some charity shops I gathered that clothes take up the most space in most.

Planning

I wanted my Charity Shop to come across as more of a up-cycled furniture store that sold bits and bobs for the home because it would be this stuff that would tie in with the narrative. So thought as clothes as an after thought and unimportant to the story. Again they were there just to fill the shop.

Sixth Presenation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MXz17Ut900rGcigtYOndYUCqCfMZ7eiUr5ioUpBDOII/edit#slide=id.p

Our sixth presentation went well. Alec liked the models and textures we had worked on. We thought it was good to take a little break from story as we had been spending a lot of time previous to Christmas story boarding and updating animatics. As stated in the previous presentation our story was 90% of the way there so this time round it was nice to show Alec some actual completed pieces. I’m really glad the story book idea came across better in the presentation that it did when I’d messaged Alec on Facebook messenger about the idea. I think the concept pieces helped back this idea up as a good one and as always I was grateful for the feedback he gave to us, it gave us a clearer path to follow with this new way of telling the story:

Alec – I like the start and the end Narration could maybe carry throughout Like the young person’s Getting the Sun rigged and finished is the next priority

We would go on now to develop the story book idea further and finish off some models for the Charity Shop. Our idea was to ‘set the stage before letting the actors perform’ which would be animation itself. So as the Charity Shop is very nearly complete it wouldn’t be long until we started doing some real animation.

 

 

Shop Exterior

Technical

After modelling the outside of the Charity Shop I spent quite a bit of time of textures and put a lot of effort into these as the front of our shop would fill the screen at the start of our short. I used a normal map for the bricks and a bump map for the grounds tiles.

My friend Tiago from JAM when teaching me how to texture using Vray said “The key to good texturing is in it’s imperfections, because nothing is perfect.” 

So I spend time on adding imperfections such as the bird poop on the shop’s sign and the dirt along the bottom of the walls.  I added some streaks to the window via a specular map etc.

Artistic

This was the exterior of the Charity Shop I modelled and textured. This was a bit of a long process as I struggled to actually picture the front of the shop in my head. I had different versions of different visions but am happy with the overall outcome.

I went with the idea of having the shop on a city centre street, with a rough and ready style. I wanted the outside to look hard and grubby to help make the inside look even more of a warm and welcoming place. I thought this would be an interesting contrast.

I decided on a pale blue to represent the sky behind the sun logo on the sign. Obviously the sun logo on the sign will tie in with the name of the shop/short and with the main character.

I chose duller colours for the surrounding random shops so the Charity Shop would stand out.

I went for a simpler box shape with nothing too fancy outside not to distract from the inside where we would want our audiences attention to focus.

Artistic Research

 

Research

I did a lot of research into the different types of charity shops and how they look. I liked the various designs so took aspects from a range of exteriors to make mine. I chose to work simple in order to not make it look too fancy as I want it to come across as a bit run down and appealing in that sense. I liked the idea of having a block colour with a plastic sign above the door rather than wood as there would be  lot of wood inside. This would create a strong contrast.

Window Display

Artistic/Technical

This became my front window display. I tried to make it look fun and appealing through the use of mostly rounded shapes and bright colours etc. I tried to make it look like a bit of a random selection.

My models are based around various objects for the home. I tried to incorporate mainly rounded shapes to make the inside look more comfortable than the harsher and more squared outside. Giving the inside of the Charity Shop seem a nice place to be.

My textures I believe made the stuff look nice. They’re glossy and in good condition which will then be compared to a few grubbier pieces on the interior. Keeping things true to my research.

Artistic Planning

I chose certain object specifically such as the umbrella and the beach ball as they are another indication to the story and it’s moral. They are both weather related objects (like the sun on our teapot) and although the beach ball may suggest summer the umbrella hints at ‘rain on it’s parade.’ The sunflower though represents the necessity for both sun and rain because it’s what gives the flower life… in any dark situation there come light, there is always a ‘Bright Side.’

Artistic Research

 

 

Research/Planning

Alec suggested I speak to someone that works in a second hand shop about how they organise there front window displays. I wondered do they put the oldest or more expensive stuff on display in hope it will sell faster or do they put there newest and in best conditions items at front in hope it will attract and lure people inside.

I called into Oxfam on Dublin Road and asked a girl called Louise how they go about choosing what they put in their widow displays.

Louise said “We get lots of things from a lot of different people so what we set entirely is up to them. Sometimes we get things coming into us in such good condition that we wonder why people are actually wanting rid of them. It’ll be these find that we put on display because it’s this stuff that we want to sell most. Stuff people can still use and appreciate. This stuff will attract people in as well because people are surprised by what’s on display and then think twice about what else they might find inside. A lot of people think we just sell crap but one mans trash is another mans treasure.”