This week we’ll be blocking our body mechanics shot using our reference and planning from last week.
Body Mechanics Planning Feedback:
Reference collection:
Extra reference (from similar jump but new camera angle)
Pose sketches:
Animatic using poses (overlayed on Maya background set up):
Sphere animation (roughly matched to the head, hips, hands, and feet of the reference footage):
Feedback from George:
Some of the arcs feel slow, make them more punchy
Don’t forget to switch hands and feet between IK and FK depending on if they have made contact with the wall or not
Towards the end of the reference shot when the guy stands up and his hands lift off the wall, the screen right hand peels off nicely because of the angle. Make sure to include and push this in anim
This week I blocked animation for shot 0190. I also imported the alembic cache for shot 0180 (0170 and 0180 combined) and shot 0190 to UE5 and set them up in the sequencer.
Shot 0190 Blocking:
I also saw that the creator of the Artemis & Apollo rigs, Ramon Arango, is going to be releasing a new rig pack this week of 6 human character rigs. I want to buy them anyway for my personal use, but I realised I could use some of the rigs as the secondary characters for this project. I do wish I had them sooner as I would have liked to maybe use one of them as the main character also, purely for style matching sake as the new rigs look a little different to the Apollo rig. However I think since the Apollo rig is the only main character, I’m happy with the rig for him looking different.
This week we looked at planning and video references for animations.
For filming your own video references, getting as much footage of the same movement as ideal, as you can then pick the one that looks best. This could mean it fits better into the shot/scene idea, it’s the most visually satisfying, it conveys the desired information and mood, etc. You can also edit and cut together video footage, such as taking part of the movement and slowing it down to create more dynamic movements.
It’s also best to get multiple angles, and to always try and film from multiple angles simultaneously so the movement matches up. This is so you can see the different parts of the body clearly moving, as from just one angle some movements may not be as clear or visible to the camera. I’ve shot references in the past with multiple angles by borrowing a friend’s phone and using that and my own to get a front and side angle. I just had to match up both in video editing software.
We can also use preexisting video reference, since some movements we might not be able to do (such as professional athlete movements for example). We just need to keep in mind how easy or difficult the reference might be to use when looking for some. I found a parkour video on youtube where they often capture movements from multiple angles, so I think I would like to find a quick jump from one of these videos to use as my reference.
Walk Cycle Spline Feedback 2:
Feedback from George:
Have the feet planting done in 3 frames. Frame 1, heel of foot touch down. Frame 2, foot touches down but toes still lifted. Frame 3, toes touch down and foot fully planted.
On frame 15-16, the back knee gets stuck. Move the foot control a tad so the knee moves between those frames
Around frame 33 the ball movement feels shaky for some reason, double check the animation editor arcs are smooth
This week I’ve been focusing on animation. I’ve been finding it difficult to get myself working lately, so I wanted to start with a shorter shot first before jumping into anything too big. I picked shots 0170 and 0180 (I decided to merge those two shots together as the cameras were too similar for a shot change to not feel weird).
I also decided to block all active shots for now so I can import them to UE5 and render the full film with blocked anim to test how it all looks, before going back and splining/cleaning up animation later. This way even if everything goes wrong after blocking and for some reason I can’t do more animation work, I at least still have a full film with blocked animation for submission.
Vid 1, 2, 3, & 4. “The Great Escape” Russian Doll (2019). Season 1, Episode 2. Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com.
Vid 5 & 6. “The Way Out” Russian Doll (2019). Season 1, episode 7. Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com.
References:
Hodgin, N. and Thakkar, A. (2017) ‘Introduction: Trauma Studies, Film and the Scar Motif’, Springer eBooks, pp. 7. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41024-1_1.
Quinlivan, D. (2014) ‘Film, healing and the body in crisis: a twenty-first century aesthetics of hope and reparation’, Screen, 55(1), pp. 103–117. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjt053.
Hazen, M. (2020) ‘Exploring narrative complexity in Outer Wilds: A textual analysis on how user agency and a time-loop influence the narrative complexity’, BA. Thesis. Utrecht University. Available at: https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/865
Cabeen, C. (2023) ‘Trauma Responses in Social Choreography: Accessing Agency and Opportunities for Healing through Mindful Embodiment’, Arts, 13(1), pp. 4–4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13010004.
During my 1-2-1 tutorial with Nigel, he clarified and explained some aspects to the brief that up until now I had misunderstood. I thought this critical report would be a predecessor to the thesis and as such I was trying to focus my critical report topic within the scope of what I wanted to explore in my later wider research. Nigel explained that while we could do this, it would be more effective for us to move onto a different topic for the thesis, especially with the limited word count of the critical report.
Since the 1-2-1 I’ve been considering alternative topics for the critical report, and I think I would like to explore how digital media can specifically help the healing process of viewers struggling with mental illness. While I have seen a lot of research on the general effects to mental health across the board, and on representation of mental illness within digital media, I haven’t seen specific research on my specific desired topic. I do think I would be able to find a lot of interesting research supporting the topic, yet I would be curious to know how well documented it is considering the ethical implications of conducting a study on such a topic when, unlike more traditional treatment methods, I assume it doesn’t have a viable basis as a potential treatment method depending on the outcome of such a study.
If I were to research this topic, I think it would also be useful supporting research to have examples of digital media specifically centred around exploring mental illness in a respectful yet accurate/realistic way. The first two examples that come to mind are Joker (2019), and Russian Doll (2019).
With the Joker, I found the depiction of a man being let down by the mental health treatment system very profound in a time where many are experiencing the same thing. I have seen some criticise the movie based on the idea that mental illness is being depicted as the reason for the main character’s violence, but I personally consider it a (perhaps extreme but still realistic) example of how mentally ill people can suffer and cause suffering when the system they ask for help fails them repeatedly.
As for Russian Doll, I see the series as a raw and honest journey from the point of suffering with mental illness and trauma to finally being ready to start healing. Both characters Nadia and Alan are forced by the narrative to acknowledge their mental health issues, with the narrative both punishing them when partaking in toxic and unhealthy coping strategies, and only progressing as they choose to take the difficult steps towards healing.
While I think the Joker could be an interesting way to explore how difficult the healing process can be without the proper help from the health system, I feel Russian Doll would offer a more clear and concise narrative to explore such a topic with.
I’ve been a bit slow with progress the past couple of weeks, but I’ve managed to make a start on animating. I’ve also found a few more issues with the rig that I’ve been able to fix, one by using the Discord server the creator of the rigs made for users. I also added a Bugs/Issues page to my Google Sheet that I’m using to keep track of the project, mostly so I can note down issues as they come up to look into later and keep track of what I’ve done to fix issues that may come up again and need the same fix. This sheet did prove helpful when I had to redo all of the changes I made to the original rig file due to part of the rig breaking in one of the early rendition scenes. I didn’t notice this issue until part way through animating, but was able to use the sheet I made to quickly reapply the changes without having to try and remember off the top of my head what changes I made.
This week we splined our blocked out walk cycle and started adding details in.
Side Step Spline Feedback:
Feedback from George:
Focus on the timing of the ball, give it more ease in and out both just before it follows the screen left foot on the side step, and as it holds balance over the left foot after the step (as the right foot is still moving over)
Have the feet touching the ground faster at the end of their movement
Have the side of the feet touch down first and then quickly touch down fully
Walk Cycle plan and blocked animation feedback:
Feedback from George:
Have the toes flap as they follow through on the movement of the foot
Make the heel of the foot touch down, then the main foot with the toe still up, then the whole foot touching down, each on a frame
On the front view, push the ball movement along the x axis more. May need to adjust the y translation followed by the x rotation accordingly
On frame 4, the space between the legs might be a tad too big (try reducing it and see how it feels), and the toe of the back foot should still be flat on the ground
This week we looked at different use cases of narrative structure and, going back to last weeks lecture, how Mise-en-Scène is used to convey narrative. For example, we were shown a chase scene where the characters are always crossing the scene from left to right, to convey the chase continuing even as the setting and time changes (aka, narrative continuity).
We also looked at editing, and how there isn’t as much (at least not in the same sense) editing in animation vs live acton, since animation shots are often much more pre planned down to the frame length, whereas live action cameras can keep rolling after the shot end time which the director may choose to do for various reasons.
This lecture was another great source of language and research for my own topic, since narrative structures have always been fascinating to me and I would love to focus on researching the use of them within my topic.
