After Effects and Mime Anmation Project

The last six weeks seem to have flown by and in that time I've managed make a significant scratch in the surface of all there is to know about Adobe After Effects.

Ive uploaded both unedited and edited versions of my final mime animation to Vimeo (links below) so you can see the start and end product.

My thanks go to Jason Evans (link to blog here) and Dan Harvey (link to blog here) for the end credits card on the final video and assisting with the music choice.

https://vimeo.com/111205843

https://vimeo.com/111205842

Finished Hive

This is the finished hive on my set about half way though filming.
Un-edited Mime animation coming soon. 

Sadly I will not be able to post my test footage which shows all of the progress and development for this project because the new computer I'm working on wiped all my tests from Stop Motion Pro. *angrily shakes fist at computer*
(Learn from my mistake guys, save as you work!)

 

Bee Hive Build

I started by cutting twenty trapeziums from balsa wood.

 

Next I used superglue to stick everything together, and gave each section a coat of white paint.

After stacking the sections I noticed they were a bit wobbly so I cut some wedges to make sure everything was snug and level before gluing it all together.

 In the next photo I have added legs and the top section for the roof to sit on.

I drilled a shallow hole into each of the legs to hold tiny magnets. This should stop the beehive moving when I film.

I used textured brown card to cover some balsa wood for the roof. Before gluing the roof down I added a second coat of white paint and then gave it a used look by staining certain areas with coffee.

(Finished prop photo coming soon) 

After Effects Project

For this project we have to create a 10 - 15 second animated performance of one character using mime to convey emotion I must also include a small amount of lip-sync. After completing the performance I will use after effects, flash and Photoshop to add visual effects to the performance.

Below is the storyboard of my second idea (my first idea involved guns and an explosion, how unoriginal is that!? *yawn*) 

I have lovingly named my mime sequence 'Save The Bees'

Summer Time

Over the summer I wanted play with my armature, practice a bit of animation and re-do my walk, push, pull and throw cycles. Sadly this meant dismantling Larry, here he is waving goodbye...so sad. (I'm keeping all his parts so a can build a custom wire armature for him later)

 

And now say hello to my naked re-assembled slightly sassy looking H1 Pro armature. I found it difficult to animate and position it in this 'naked' form so I decided to bulk out the hips and chest with balsa wood.

 Here are the hip and chest blocks. I used a Dremel to do most of the shaping so getting to this stage didn't take too long.

I then stained and varnished both parts to make them more durable.

 Here is the finished product, complete with head and hands. Time to start animating.

End of year two

Its been a little while since posted last, I wanted to give a little update.
 

I was lucky enough to be nominated for the Best Stop Motion category in the Glammies this year, it was a huge surprise and although I didn't win I was immensely proud to see my work up on the big screen next to my other nominees James Carlisle, Sean Gregory and George Carman.

I'm a little sad to see all the third years go, they've been a huge inspiration to me and I wish them all the best for the future.

I aim to improve my animation over the summer so I plan to re shoot my walk, push and lift cycles so keep an eye out for some new videos.

Last but not least here's my second year short film 'Out Of Focus'.

https://vimeo.com/96196587

Interiour Set

      I finished filming yesterday so I figured it was finally time for an update. My dad helped me out with putting together the walls and floor of the set. We designed it so that the side walls could be quickly removed to allow me to get different angles for filming and to make animating easier.

The photos below show the set and props before I dirtied it up a little. I was a little concerned at how 'clean' it all looked until I spoke to James Carlisle (link to blog) about how to make the room look lived in and used.

I had intended to use magnets to hold down my puppets but I discovered that they weren't really strong enough. Once again my dad came to the rescue and added some legs to my set so I could use tie downs. Tie downs are great!