ANIMATIE p10 (5)

After some research I finally discovered the 'Puppet pin' tool in After Effects. It answers a long time question of me concerning the making of some 2D animations. The latest example is the Dutch short 'It is not funny, it is art', in which the animation is mainly done by deforming the shapes in an organic and quick way. I think the 'puppet pin' tool is used for that.



I also put the storyboard and new character designs I made. The story is an endeavor to poke fun with Bing/Jose couple. I am still not so happy with the character designs. Not much of style in them. Have to try more.

ANIMATIE p10 de vormgever (4)

Onderzoek en ontwikkeling (4)

I tried lip sync of one sentence in after effects (with photoshop). The conclusion is: it is workable, but difficult. Must find a balance between nice forms and fluent animation. Below is the animated one sentence. He said: No, my work for Spain is in Spain.



Here I put down the content of the whole conversation, recorded during a visit of friends couple (see my previous article). Abreviationa are: Jose(the husband) - J; Bing(the wife) - B; me - Y.

Y:Why did you come back this time for one week? Is it about your work from Spain, or...?
J:No, my work from Spain is in Spain.
Y:...Okay, so...
J:I came back because of them, you know.
B:Because of what?
J:Because of them. Because of my wife and my daughter. Because of the 'can you come? we don't have dinner?'
Y:Ha! That's why. They need you...
B:To cut the meat!
Y:You are so important.
B:The man who cut the meat!
Y:To cut the meat and get the bread.
B:He, for us, is the man who cut the meat. You know? Otherwise we don't have meat to eat.
Y:Ah, really tough.
B:Ja.
J:No you have some meat but not cut.
B:we don't like. I like small pieces of meat.
Y:How do you like your new job in Spain?
J:Well, the new job is just writing the thesis. Ja, I do like, and not only that, I feel... why so many?
B:We only have the cheapest onion for our guest. We have no money. No money, no food. And I am tearing.
Y:I am so disappointed. I am eating the cheapest onion.
J:Not only the cheapest onion...
Y:Thanks to you. I have never tasted it.
J:Did you notice? The population of ducks has decreased dramatically this week.
Y:The population of what?
J:Ducks.
Y:Oh ja, I didn't see any ducks. Because of the financial crisis?
J:No, no no. Because I came on Sunday. I came this week.
B:Don't joke with the poor ducks....Oh, my eyes!
Y:And the sheeps?
J:The sheeps still there.
Y:Ducks first.
J:They have owners.
B:Do you agree people are onions...people are like onions.
Y:I like onions.
B:ah?
Y:Onions?
B:has many layers.
Y:How are you going to cook it?

In the film I will put in subtitles to make it easier to follow.

The dialogue, as most of the talks we held in daily life, is rather random and obscure by the first sight. Therefore I will put into images and movements that kind of annotate the dialogue. So everything will make sense to the audeince in an absurd and exagerated way. Pseudo south park or the simpsons.

Not trying too hard to be funny, the design of the characters will have a simple, matter-of-facts style, as show in below.

I plan to settle the design of the characters and the backdrops by this week. I will start animation and work further on the sound by the next week. The animation will take about at least 4 weeks, I think. With rendering , postprocessing it will be about another 1 or 2 weeks.

ANIMATIE p10 de vormgever (3)

Onderzoek en ontwikkeling (4)

I made some more recording, this time with somewhat better quality.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5214763623c595a1/

Again this was a visit paied to my old friends, the Gabrriels. The couple are fond of witty comments, and that day they were in a playful mood. We managed to joke about things with our limited English and enjoyed it.

In one aspect I noticed how deeply we are all influenced by mass culture. Many of the dialogues held there can be fit into a typical American sitcom. I think this might be an interesting approach - with a caricature visual style and exagerated movement and facial expression I can make a small episode of sitcom out these dialogues.

In another hand, i do get a glimpse of their particular personalities and relationship with eachother. The light way of talking about things is a defense for them, to fend off many difficulties they are currently experiencing at the moment: financially and culturally. I want to reveal that in the animation to the audiences.

Below is a test animation inAfter Effect.

ANIMATIE p10 de vormgever (2)

Onderzoek en ontwikkeling (2)



Last weekend I was in a party. The hosting couple are from Spain and China respectively. They have a 2-years-old daughter named Ela. She was born and raised here in the Netherlands. Among the guests that night were Chinese, Dutch and Spainiards. Obviously Ela is very used to this multilingual environment.

At one point her father played chimes and her mother sang and she danced with the music to all of us.

The recorded fragment is at http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=5mi895&s=4

It might be interesting to animate this scene, depicting not only the location and characters, but also the languages and music. Above is a sketch to give a idea of the concept.

ANIMATIE p10 dialoog/geluid

Onderzoek en ontwikkeling (1)

Once that I was on the train to Amsterdam. A lady, in her mid-30s, sat opposite to me in the cabin. She made a phone call from her mobile, and to my surprise and delight, she is a native English speaker. So I followed the conversation of her side without difficulty.

She said,
'Hello, Mr Anderson, hi, I am fine.... I am on the train right now...

...Seems there is again some problem with the rail. I am afraid I won't be able to attend the meeting...

...Yeah, will take at least 2 hours to get there...there is just no point anymore...

...yeah, this is already the second time this month. I have had no idea. It is just unbelievable....

...no....no, 'course not...

...yeah, its better we arrange to meet with them another time...

...yeah, I have received his email. I have made some of the modifications he asked...but it is gonna take soem time...

...I think I will just go back to eindehoven and work on it this afternoon...

...yeah...yeah...could you please tell him to call me? He's got my number...yeah...this afternoon or maybe tomorrow...tomorrow is better...

...okay, this afternoon then....okay....bye. You take care too.'

There is nothing sensational in this dialogue, yet it did leave much space for my own interpretation. A lonesome woman, in a foreign country, a cabin on a moving train, they together form an image worth some speculation.


And, what are the reactions on the other side of the phone?


How are the other people on the train/platform like at that moment?


What is her true mental state underneath her calm appearance?


And, what is going to happen next?


I tried to free my imagination and let it go on various directions.