Character song performance work in progress

Here is my song performance to Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' so far. I've blocked it out really roughly to get the key poses from my thumbnails in (thumbnails will appear on my planning page once I'm near a scanner).

Caitlin :)

FINAL - lip sync to "give"

It is done! Huzzah! I wonder how many times I've heard this clip now...
(See my 'planning' page above for the thumbnails and reference.)

This looks so much more natural now that I've put everything in. I had it before with just the head doing the acting, making Dee look rather robotic, but with some arm and torso movements he suddenly looked human. I also had to make up where the blinks went, as in my video reference I, so helpfully, did not blink once!

It was surprisingly hard to fit in all the same emotion as I did on my video reference, as I was trying to exaggerate it as well for animation purposes, so I feel like this is a bit rushed in places. But overall I'm pleased with the change in mood in Dee from happy to deadly defensive.

Caitlin :)

Business cards!

Yesterday my first ever batch of business cards came in the post from MOO.com. Yaaay!

I designed both sides myself in Photoshop and uploaded the designs to MOO, who printed them out for me. I'm so pleased with the result, so now I just have to have the confidence to actually give them out during Animex week!

They're really nice quality and a satisfying size, with the colours much bolder than I thought they'd be for CMYK. And I even got a 20% student discount, meaning I paid around £15 for 50 custom cards -- not bad at all for the quality and service!

Caitlin :)

FINAL - normal walk and personality walk

It turns out everything looks ten times better when you light and render it... So I'm really happy with my finished walk cycles!

Normal/basic walk cycle
He looks a bit gormless... but he's walking, which is the important thing.

Personality walk - confident
This one is new! I had it half done before, but he needed some more -- erm -- swagger, and some movement in the cycle to show his personality. I love how this turned out; MooM is so comical! And the cycle looped so much better than I expected -- I didn't have to go through fiddling with seams between the steps.

Caitlin :)

FINAL - 3D poses

I finally got out my already complete poses and rendered them out nicely, phew!
(Click on images to enlarge.)

I can take you all on!

Troubled by result

What's under there?

This last one I actually redid using Dee instead of MooM, as Dee has a bit more movement and expression, I think. Overall I'm very pleased and think they are clear (and hopefully a bit comical!), especially when they're not just naff screenshots!

Caitlin :)

Hobbits, Jack Frost, and lifeboats with tigers

It's a Christmas film catch-up! I've been to the cinema three times over the past few weeks: first to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3D); second to see Rise of the Guardians; and third to see Life Of Pi (3D). All of these films were a stunning and special experience, but all for very different reasons.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
This film has so much content! I don't know why it's split into three, though -- two seems like enough, but maybe not for all the extras and backstories they're adding. I have to say, though, it was nice not to feel that any scene was rushed. Bilbo and Gollum playing a riddle game, for instance -- they told almost every riddle from the book, and it was all very thorough, allowing you to just enjoy the moment before diving into more running and fighting.

I felt kind of sorry for all the VFX artists, though; this film was not only two hours and forty minutes, not only in 3D, but was also being shown in 48 frames-per-second instead of just the standard 24/25. I don't know in great detail how much this would affect the jobs of those working on the effects, but even if the workload didn't increase much it did increase the pressure to get it right, as audiences could see every single detail as though they were there.

Despite this, though, the effects were as stunning as ever. Gollum didn't fail to be believable -- and simultaneously both repulsive and endearing -- with his huge, expressive eyes and slimy movements. There were endless crowd simulations and battles and numerous fantasy creatures... But as well as the effects the whole thing was just done nicely. Every character was very detailed and different, and at the same time they all gelled in to the whole. Every scene and location was always new and memorable.

I very much enjoyed being able to thoroughly immerse myself in this fantasy world without any problem and allow the story to be told without rushing. I look forward to the next instalment.


Rise of the Guardians
I had no idea what to expect at all with this film. I hadn't really even seen the trailers, but I figured it was worth a watch even without knowing what it was! I had heard a lot of good responses to it, too.

I must be a magpie, because the main reason I liked it was for its beautiful visuals. The characters were very sharp both in look and attitude, and the magical effects included were really lovely to watch. My favourite thing was the Sandman and his powers -- he appeared himself to be made completely of glittery gold sand, and all the dream-like images he conjured were of the same material. Yum yum.

The story was good -- suited to a family-friendly, easy-to-follow animated feature -- and I liked that it focussed on the story and character of Jack Frost, as I hadn't expected this and he was easily the most relatable, believable character of the bunch. It was fun to see his personal journey.

So, given that I went into this with no clue of what I was going to see, this film was a pleasant surprise for me.

Life Of Pi

For me, this was the most interesting film of three, purely for its diversity and beauty in an industry filled with guns, chases and explosions. The beginning of the film shows you about Pi's life (being told by his older self) when he was young and in school, finding his way and his faith. This section was very charming, even though it didn't seem to add much to the rest of the plot.

I loved the style -- it was all very clean with carefully chosen colours and composition. These features continued to be prevalent once Pi hit the water in his lifeboat after the ship he was on sank. Every scene, every frame, was a piece of art. The colours were vivid and stunning, and often the imagery would go into the very stylised, with the sea becoming more transparent or glass-like.

There was very little that was filmed for real -- not only were the animals CGI, but the sea and surroundings were more often than not, too -- but all the CGI was seamless.

I throughly enjoyed experiencing something so different, and the whole thing was beautiful from start to finish with an odd and interesting story to boot.

Caitlin :)