The LINK to the Animation....
https://vimeo.com/84707519
Link to my next semesters blogs....
Moving image: yeoldmovingimage.blogspot.com
3D Animation: 3danimationdes312.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Sound effects and putting it all together.
Now heres where project planning comes in, and you realize, ah i wish id thought this far ahead, but its a learning experience none the less, you remember not to do it that way the next time.
Thinking i was smart making all the animation scenes in short scenes instead of long uneditable scenes, i left myself not much room for transitions. of course i went back to flash and made a few extra long start or end frames, giving room for transitions.
I stuck mainly with fade in and out, though transitions arent normally liked in movies above amateur level (otherwise you end up with something similar to scooby doo) the most commonly used transition in practice would probably be dissolve, but fade in and fade out suited this eerie dream like animation, i think it ended up looking the part once it was all put together.
a big problem i came across was the black screen, and timing it that it would only last for the certain blank narration parts, this was tricky due to the fact the software wouldnt allow me to use a blank screen, unless it was a jpeg, and nobody likes added a jpeg to a movie, especially since they arent as easy as youd think to scale down or up in time, the software thinks it knows best and jumps ahead or back a full second or two, which can completely throw off an animation. so timing the blackness was actually one of the most time consuming parts of this editing process.
The little things make the big things work, after all the chilling emotive design of this project doesnt just lay with the words narrated, or how they are narrated or eve just the animation and transitions, to make it come to life, the noises, subtle and obvious ones, all have to be included. this was my first real experience in sound effects, as it had more than background music.
There are countless music editing softwares available, the one is used and also my personal favourite due to its simplicity is garage band. it allows me to add several sound effects, and over lap them (simple yet not all sound editing programes do it) and it allows me to mess about with the noise level, ie i can make things seem further in the distant or quieter, and even fade in or out. this of course was used alot in my 'the book thief' animation, mainly with the screams and sobs.
The first thing included other than the already discussed narration, was the eerie background music, though i had gathered the sound effects and back ups, the music was the last to be chosen but the first to be included.
I ended up using this particular one as the tempo changes but not drastically, it is repetitive and works with my animation. The big seller for me was actually the fact it gave me chills at the start, i had several background music options that worked with the animation, but this one haunted me from the very start, so it was an easy choice.
It took a bit of experimenting and listening to the full animaton more times than im happy with, but eventually i gt the narration and sound effects to work together, nether overbearing, and the narration quiet but not lost, and the eerie music heard but not a focus.
Now this would normally be the height of my music/sound editing process, but this animation requires sound effects to come to life.
I worked from the start to the end, as i already had the sound effects and back ups gathered. Though all the sounds gathered were suitable for the action, they didnt all suit the final project, picking and choosing as i went along, some suited with the narration and background noise, others did not.
The first sound effect heard is the typing, i was adamant that i wanted a type writer/keyboard noise behind the 'small fact' titles, i designed the way the type animated due to this idea, so since i was lacking in a type writer, and any type noises i found on the internet werent suitable (too loud, too fast, too slow) i recorded it myself. This of course is not easy when you live with about ten people and in the middle of a city, background noise/static is always going to happen. Once i silenced almost everything else, my own breathing and small movements were the most difficult to cancel out. Im pretty sure divers dont have to practice holding their breath that long, again and again until the recordings correct.
I did this for all three red titles, typing the actual words out, however they dragged on a bit too much in the end.
The next bi g sound effect heard was meant to be a shine but a shine/gleam/chime didnt suit the animation, it was too high pitched for the solemness.
So in the end i used a woosh noise, when he is disappearing with the standard lifeless blue soul and the light over his shoulder blinds the screen.
Next the cracking noise, i tried so many online options, even resorted to crinkling household items, then it hit me, i was wearing a wrist brace at the time, due to the amount of work over the course of that month id started to injury my wrist, and with the next semester right around the corner i couldnt loose the ability to write draw or animate, so i got a wrist brace, its basically what youd wear if say you sprained your wrist, and if youve ever seen or had one, youd know the crackling noise that is normally a complete nuisance... except in this case, where it was perfect.
The scream i bought from an online sound effects website, for next to nothing, it came with several other screams that i found perfect for this part, but this one sounded best when made to drown out in the distance.
I think it worked well because it is a bit scary and unexpected. catches you off guard. i had plan to use many other sound effects but in the end i took them out as it was too many, every second or so was another sound effect and the actual effect was lost by the end of it all.
One of the most striking moments you see death, is one of the big full person glimpses, and its very bold and lonesome looking as he turns and abandons the screen.
This was such a powerful scene i kept its sound effect. a long swoosh similar to the shining light over the shoulder scene. it emphasise how quick and how gone he is.
hopefully making the viewer feel an emptiness, and abandoned.
One of the hardest sound effects to actually decide on was the distant crying of survivors, it was a disgusted and mournful scene through narration and animation,it was a fine line between too much and not enough.
I was stuck on whether it was an actual mournful cry, a small sob or even a crowd of crys and sobs.
Its one of the sound effects that took so much time and effort yet im just not happy with it in the end, i feel it is missing something im just not seeing/hearing, yet no matter who i asked, i never got any helpful feedback, nobody else seemed to see/hear the problem i had. Its defiantly a scene im not a hundred percent pleased with.
The beaten lungs is the last big sound effect you hear in this animation, it seemed too important to not include. Once all the sound effects had been included i deleted more than half as it was too much. sound effects i deleted were small things like marching of Nazis, heavy breathing every so often, shines, a swoosh of the perpetual survivor, a sound for each of the things described in the second last scene, like the scribble of writing (words) and a girl laugh in the distance (girl) marching (fanatical Germans) an accordion in the distance (accordionist) jewish fist fighter (a punch and a grunt) In the end though they seemed nesscary, there was just too much and lost its effect.
Sounds i wish i had included now that i look back on it all would be especially the waxy yellows and cloud spat blues scene. a gooey noise for the wax, a drip and puffy noise for cloud spat blue, and maybe a smokey noise or crumbling noise for the murky darknesses. One more noise i wasnt happy with and believe another coinciding noise wouldve benefited would have been the beaten lungs noise, though there were alot of noises in that scene i believe a sickly breathing/beating noise for the lungs wouldve been appropriate, however i could never find one that made sense, this is one of the biggest disappointments about this animation, even though nobody else seems to notice.
All in all i think it was a success. i started out to create a short story (lifes ups and downs, based on the oh the places youll go by dr suess) but changed it to making a teaser promo for the book for this project and it turned out alot better than id expected, and the project brought on more challenges and experiences than id expected as well. I can definitely see myself getting more and more enthused by animation and want to continue to get better. so take a wee look at the final project 'The Book Thief' linked in the next post and maybe give me some feedback, all feedback/suggestions/likes/dislikes are welcome, as it will help me become a better animator. Thankyou all for reading this far, and i hope this project/blog has come of some little use to you on your on projects/animation journeys.
Next semester is 3D Animation and Moving Image, so if any of that interests you, follow on reading, the link will also be in the final post.
BYE
Thinking i was smart making all the animation scenes in short scenes instead of long uneditable scenes, i left myself not much room for transitions. of course i went back to flash and made a few extra long start or end frames, giving room for transitions.
I stuck mainly with fade in and out, though transitions arent normally liked in movies above amateur level (otherwise you end up with something similar to scooby doo) the most commonly used transition in practice would probably be dissolve, but fade in and fade out suited this eerie dream like animation, i think it ended up looking the part once it was all put together.
a big problem i came across was the black screen, and timing it that it would only last for the certain blank narration parts, this was tricky due to the fact the software wouldnt allow me to use a blank screen, unless it was a jpeg, and nobody likes added a jpeg to a movie, especially since they arent as easy as youd think to scale down or up in time, the software thinks it knows best and jumps ahead or back a full second or two, which can completely throw off an animation. so timing the blackness was actually one of the most time consuming parts of this editing process.
The little things make the big things work, after all the chilling emotive design of this project doesnt just lay with the words narrated, or how they are narrated or eve just the animation and transitions, to make it come to life, the noises, subtle and obvious ones, all have to be included. this was my first real experience in sound effects, as it had more than background music.
There are countless music editing softwares available, the one is used and also my personal favourite due to its simplicity is garage band. it allows me to add several sound effects, and over lap them (simple yet not all sound editing programes do it) and it allows me to mess about with the noise level, ie i can make things seem further in the distant or quieter, and even fade in or out. this of course was used alot in my 'the book thief' animation, mainly with the screams and sobs.
The first thing included other than the already discussed narration, was the eerie background music, though i had gathered the sound effects and back ups, the music was the last to be chosen but the first to be included.
I ended up using this particular one as the tempo changes but not drastically, it is repetitive and works with my animation. The big seller for me was actually the fact it gave me chills at the start, i had several background music options that worked with the animation, but this one haunted me from the very start, so it was an easy choice.
It took a bit of experimenting and listening to the full animaton more times than im happy with, but eventually i gt the narration and sound effects to work together, nether overbearing, and the narration quiet but not lost, and the eerie music heard but not a focus.
Now this would normally be the height of my music/sound editing process, but this animation requires sound effects to come to life.
I worked from the start to the end, as i already had the sound effects and back ups gathered. Though all the sounds gathered were suitable for the action, they didnt all suit the final project, picking and choosing as i went along, some suited with the narration and background noise, others did not.
The first sound effect heard is the typing, i was adamant that i wanted a type writer/keyboard noise behind the 'small fact' titles, i designed the way the type animated due to this idea, so since i was lacking in a type writer, and any type noises i found on the internet werent suitable (too loud, too fast, too slow) i recorded it myself. This of course is not easy when you live with about ten people and in the middle of a city, background noise/static is always going to happen. Once i silenced almost everything else, my own breathing and small movements were the most difficult to cancel out. Im pretty sure divers dont have to practice holding their breath that long, again and again until the recordings correct.
I did this for all three red titles, typing the actual words out, however they dragged on a bit too much in the end.
The next bi g sound effect heard was meant to be a shine but a shine/gleam/chime didnt suit the animation, it was too high pitched for the solemness.
So in the end i used a woosh noise, when he is disappearing with the standard lifeless blue soul and the light over his shoulder blinds the screen.
Next the cracking noise, i tried so many online options, even resorted to crinkling household items, then it hit me, i was wearing a wrist brace at the time, due to the amount of work over the course of that month id started to injury my wrist, and with the next semester right around the corner i couldnt loose the ability to write draw or animate, so i got a wrist brace, its basically what youd wear if say you sprained your wrist, and if youve ever seen or had one, youd know the crackling noise that is normally a complete nuisance... except in this case, where it was perfect.
The scream i bought from an online sound effects website, for next to nothing, it came with several other screams that i found perfect for this part, but this one sounded best when made to drown out in the distance.
I think it worked well because it is a bit scary and unexpected. catches you off guard. i had plan to use many other sound effects but in the end i took them out as it was too many, every second or so was another sound effect and the actual effect was lost by the end of it all.
One of the most striking moments you see death, is one of the big full person glimpses, and its very bold and lonesome looking as he turns and abandons the screen.
This was such a powerful scene i kept its sound effect. a long swoosh similar to the shining light over the shoulder scene. it emphasise how quick and how gone he is.
hopefully making the viewer feel an emptiness, and abandoned.
One of the hardest sound effects to actually decide on was the distant crying of survivors, it was a disgusted and mournful scene through narration and animation,it was a fine line between too much and not enough.
I was stuck on whether it was an actual mournful cry, a small sob or even a crowd of crys and sobs.
Its one of the sound effects that took so much time and effort yet im just not happy with it in the end, i feel it is missing something im just not seeing/hearing, yet no matter who i asked, i never got any helpful feedback, nobody else seemed to see/hear the problem i had. Its defiantly a scene im not a hundred percent pleased with.
The beaten lungs is the last big sound effect you hear in this animation, it seemed too important to not include. Once all the sound effects had been included i deleted more than half as it was too much. sound effects i deleted were small things like marching of Nazis, heavy breathing every so often, shines, a swoosh of the perpetual survivor, a sound for each of the things described in the second last scene, like the scribble of writing (words) and a girl laugh in the distance (girl) marching (fanatical Germans) an accordion in the distance (accordionist) jewish fist fighter (a punch and a grunt) In the end though they seemed nesscary, there was just too much and lost its effect.
Sounds i wish i had included now that i look back on it all would be especially the waxy yellows and cloud spat blues scene. a gooey noise for the wax, a drip and puffy noise for cloud spat blue, and maybe a smokey noise or crumbling noise for the murky darknesses. One more noise i wasnt happy with and believe another coinciding noise wouldve benefited would have been the beaten lungs noise, though there were alot of noises in that scene i believe a sickly breathing/beating noise for the lungs wouldve been appropriate, however i could never find one that made sense, this is one of the biggest disappointments about this animation, even though nobody else seems to notice.
All in all i think it was a success. i started out to create a short story (lifes ups and downs, based on the oh the places youll go by dr suess) but changed it to making a teaser promo for the book for this project and it turned out alot better than id expected, and the project brought on more challenges and experiences than id expected as well. I can definitely see myself getting more and more enthused by animation and want to continue to get better. so take a wee look at the final project 'The Book Thief' linked in the next post and maybe give me some feedback, all feedback/suggestions/likes/dislikes are welcome, as it will help me become a better animator. Thankyou all for reading this far, and i hope this project/blog has come of some little use to you on your on projects/animation journeys.
Next semester is 3D Animation and Moving Image, so if any of that interests you, follow on reading, the link will also be in the final post.
BYE
Monday, 3 February 2014
Getting Started! The Animation
The planning has been done and dusted, its now time to actually get down to animating!
Im going to use Flash CS6.... mainly because im far more comfortable using flash than after effects, each to their own, but if you are a beginner i suggest you learn after effects or you will find flash too easy and never properly learn to use after effects, which most employers prefer you to use. but for now lets just say each to their own and i hope whatever software you all choose use you build the proper skills for your animation.
Some of you might e wondering why ive back tracked and used an older version of flash this time, the reason for this is I used Flash CC for the previous brief, which most of you know and had serious trouble exporting all my experiments and exercises, so i kept it a better safe than sorry situation.
I created the animation in order, thats how i usually work, however im not unknown to working on scenes in a jumbled order. for this project though, there was no reason not to create the simple scenes in order.
Ive broken this short animation into very short scenes for simplicity.
Im not going to go through every brush stroke and detail. ill leave that to your imaginations, however i do want to go through the scenes and give my thoughts on them, and point out the negatives and positives.
so lets begin.... as theres quite a few.
Scene one. First the colours, then the humans.
Since it was the first scene i went back and re did it more times than any other scene, after all it was the one i seen most often, so i was constantly judging it and finding other ways to create it.
im quite happy with the final version. i used a simple blur tool and motion tweens to create the fuzzy rainbow effect.
Scene two. A small fact, etc
I used the type tool, which didnt export properly, which again turned into a blessing in disguise, using the tpe as a guide, i created my own wonky creepy type, originally white on black, but red suited better.
I tried fading and shaking some of te words as the type got further away but it didnt make as bold an impact as the ransom note version i ended up with in the end.
Scene three. Reaction to the aforementioned fact
The type is all done the same, but what i wanted to talk about in this scene is actually how badly the word fair turned out. i didnt like the blurred out or shaky versions i tried, but then i tried the word fair expanding on its own to make a more lasting statement, but it was too confusing to anyone that viewed it later, so i ended up using an italic type, which others preferred but i think looks silly and not as powerful as the other versions.
Scene four. An introduction
This is the real turning point, slightly uplifting, its where the story seems to be getting somewhere, it brings you in it makes you more curious when in actuality its bringing in a broader picture and about to ramble further and confuse the audience.
This is the first moment you catch a glimpse of death and thats all its meant to be, a moment.
I wanted it faceless, not coming to or from your direction, you want to see the narrator but he moves too fast, yet in a hallow ghostly manner. His golden white hair flowing behind him. thats quite alot of hair and quite alot of frames. it took a few trys before i could get all the frames to have the hair blow at each ghostly step but not get longer or shorter by the end.
Scene five. Soul will be in my arms
This is one of my favourite scenes, as it is chilling, scary, inevitable and dooming HOWEVER its also calm and uplifting. at this point first time audiences thought the narrator was an angel or jesus, close (angel of death) but still wrong.
and the light over the shoulder is similar to the sacred heart of jesus painting.
i was always interesting to see at which point a viewer would realize the narrators identity, some got it almost instantly, others didnt get it until the sith scene.
Scene six. Caked in your own body
This is one of the many blank for dramatic effect scenes, that i found could sometimes linger on too long if you werent interested in the words, so i figured during story boarding that having relatable sound effects or small pieces of animation amoung the blankness would be useful.
out of the entire section of narration i thought caked in your own body was the most haunting and could be a powerful visual.
Scene seven. Sound of the smell of my footsteps
I thought jumping the audience from one extreme emotion to the other would be a very thriller/teaser technique. so from dead, and caked in your own body, i used sound effects and animation to give a wistful feeling. the emotive design in this animation was a major factor. making the audience want more but terrified of the dry humored death, i believe this is one of the scenes that did that perfectly.
Scene eight. What will the sky be saying
This is another powerful scene, due to the contrast in colours, this is the first full screen image so far, it actually makes audiences squint at the brightness and the vastness, exactly the effect i was going for, since most of the promo is in darkness. this way, when the mountainous range and chocolate sky is revealed its a shock to the system, just like it would be in real life.
Scene nine. A small theory
This being a far longer paragraph i thought suited just the title and maybe near the more visual words, some animation. If i had included the type like i had for the last two word scenes, the audience wouldve been severely put off by all the reading, even though the words are being read out, you still follow and read them, turning the audience off the promo.
Scene ten. Waxy yellows
This is one of the visual sentences in the word scenes that i thought had to become animated.
im disappointed i didnt add puffy cloud, splats, waxy squishy noises in the final cut, but that would be my only regret for this scene. that and it goes a bit too fast for the effect i was going for.
Scene eleven. Who would replace me
This is a series of different poses, all with one action, tying boot laces, tugging/fixing cloak, swishing hair and pensive stare, all quick flashes that are long enough to understand but they are mere glimpses, never allowing you to properly see death.
building the curiosity, tension and confusion.
Scene twelve. Te answer, nobody
The climax, the final (very final) answer, from here its obvious who the narrator is, which is both mind blowing and chilling. its now confirmed you are seeing things from deaths point of view.
hopefully i made the voice over sound as depressing and serious, that and the swishy blurred animation, i think i captured the hallow forever wanderer character.
Scene thirteen. I vacation in colours.
slightly uplifting, less chilling but its now understandable, even death can appreciate the little things. making him a slave to humanity. his only love is the colours, which hopefully makes the audience that bit more appreciative emotions wise, and for what they are seeing, it usually brings a person down to earth a little more.
Its also the final, very finalizing shot of him turning away. yes to continue on working forever and ever, always busy, always alone, always sad, i was hoping it would come across bold and brave, but also spark some empathy.
Scene fourteen. The left over humans
This is where the patience gets lost, the explaining is mostly done and death no longer wants to really talk about subjects that annoy and disgust him.
i thought the 'ones i cant stand to look at' was quite a visually rich phrase, and was appropriate for the first last and only haunting glimpse of deaths eyes, staring straight into your human soul and then turning in annoyance
but for the proper effect i think i wouldve needed less colour and more detail in his eyes, as if they were inhuman and pulsing, i didnt capture it the way i wanted, and when he turns, however it exported, it ended up going to slow and loses its quick scary effect..
Scene fifteen. Punctured hearts and beaten lungs
defenseless, powerless and mourning, the abandoned humans who have just lost their loved ones, in deaths eyes they are scum, killing each other, killing themselves, sick humans who are slow dying from birth, always deteriorating and making his job harder and harder.
like the soul, i didnt want it too there and obvious, it was a representation of all humanity, no gender or race. just a hunched over sad outline, dying with a sickly heart and set of lungs.
the lungs and heart didnt turn out the way i had intended, they werent as vile looking, an most of the detail got lost between exporting and uploading.so im definitely not happy with this final version of this scene.
however any time i tried to focus more on the detail, the movements got lost, ,and visa versa. so it was the best of a bad lot in the end. i may return to this and fix it to a standard im happy with.
Scene sixteen. Perpetual survivor
once all horrible humans have been seen in the previous scene, represented by that one mourning figure. death finishes up, by explaining this story int about that vile topic, but instead a tougher breed of survivor, something he has a happier view on, a bolder view.
i ended up making the book thief slightly more grown up than id intended but it shouldnt matter as she ranges in ages in the book. i didnt like how similar to the 'the left over humans' scene, it exported wrong and shes too slow. if i was to go back id make her run off to the side faster, maybe animate the hair. it looks so 2 and lifeless now that i look back on it.
i thought after so much darkness this happy climatic 'to be continued' like ending needed a bright figure in the end to follow. so she was like a wistful white spirit. cant be caught, not even by death.
Scene eighteen. A small story really
This is the come down, its a little less happy, more serious, but intriguing. like a bed time story. i dont like how blatantly obvious the transitions are in the end, but i do thin i choose appropriately for introducing the characters as they are listed by death, ie a girl, and accordionist etc.
i thought it simple, to the point and bold considering its about to leave on a cliffhanger, it is meant to be a teaser after all.
my biggest complaint about this is actually how un noticeable the natzi army turned out to be, perhaps if i had added marching noises to it in the end, i wouldve made the pale red army stand out more.
but i think it nicely set the scene for anarchy. and an unusual story you kind of have to be curious about. after all, what has a girl, world war two, an accordionist and books got in common, i believe it leaves the audience at least wondering and curious by the end, and definitely up for reading the book or watching the upcoming movie.
Scene nineteen. The book thief.
now the scene has been set and curiosity in the audience ignited, its time to fade out on a last quick animation, no lingering or itll seem dragged on. and i didnt want the long teasers ending to be unusually abrupt.
sticking with the perpetual survivor colour (the book thief) lowing white, i had a feminine hand reach across screen, hesitate (showing theres more to the story) before snatching the book.
I was very happy how the final book thief symbol turned out, it isnt an easy sketchy title to copy, and make stand out. i was pleased how well it turned out, the title was definitely worth the time in my opinion.
Thats that, time for touch ups and put it all together. once you get to this point of any animation you think, ah im near done.... depending on how much post production you have to do, you may be no where near done. you might be done animation, bu what about effects, and putting it together and sounds, and all that.
it can be quite time consuming and misleading.
Im going to use Flash CS6.... mainly because im far more comfortable using flash than after effects, each to their own, but if you are a beginner i suggest you learn after effects or you will find flash too easy and never properly learn to use after effects, which most employers prefer you to use. but for now lets just say each to their own and i hope whatever software you all choose use you build the proper skills for your animation.
Some of you might e wondering why ive back tracked and used an older version of flash this time, the reason for this is I used Flash CC for the previous brief, which most of you know and had serious trouble exporting all my experiments and exercises, so i kept it a better safe than sorry situation.
I created the animation in order, thats how i usually work, however im not unknown to working on scenes in a jumbled order. for this project though, there was no reason not to create the simple scenes in order.
Ive broken this short animation into very short scenes for simplicity.
Im not going to go through every brush stroke and detail. ill leave that to your imaginations, however i do want to go through the scenes and give my thoughts on them, and point out the negatives and positives.
so lets begin.... as theres quite a few.
Scene one. First the colours, then the humans.
Since it was the first scene i went back and re did it more times than any other scene, after all it was the one i seen most often, so i was constantly judging it and finding other ways to create it.
im quite happy with the final version. i used a simple blur tool and motion tweens to create the fuzzy rainbow effect.
Scene two. A small fact, etc
I used the type tool, which didnt export properly, which again turned into a blessing in disguise, using the tpe as a guide, i created my own wonky creepy type, originally white on black, but red suited better.
I tried fading and shaking some of te words as the type got further away but it didnt make as bold an impact as the ransom note version i ended up with in the end.
Scene three. Reaction to the aforementioned fact
The type is all done the same, but what i wanted to talk about in this scene is actually how badly the word fair turned out. i didnt like the blurred out or shaky versions i tried, but then i tried the word fair expanding on its own to make a more lasting statement, but it was too confusing to anyone that viewed it later, so i ended up using an italic type, which others preferred but i think looks silly and not as powerful as the other versions.
Scene four. An introduction
This is the real turning point, slightly uplifting, its where the story seems to be getting somewhere, it brings you in it makes you more curious when in actuality its bringing in a broader picture and about to ramble further and confuse the audience.
This is the first moment you catch a glimpse of death and thats all its meant to be, a moment.
I wanted it faceless, not coming to or from your direction, you want to see the narrator but he moves too fast, yet in a hallow ghostly manner. His golden white hair flowing behind him. thats quite alot of hair and quite alot of frames. it took a few trys before i could get all the frames to have the hair blow at each ghostly step but not get longer or shorter by the end.
Scene five. Soul will be in my arms
This is one of my favourite scenes, as it is chilling, scary, inevitable and dooming HOWEVER its also calm and uplifting. at this point first time audiences thought the narrator was an angel or jesus, close (angel of death) but still wrong.
and the light over the shoulder is similar to the sacred heart of jesus painting.
i was always interesting to see at which point a viewer would realize the narrators identity, some got it almost instantly, others didnt get it until the sith scene.
Scene six. Caked in your own body
This is one of the many blank for dramatic effect scenes, that i found could sometimes linger on too long if you werent interested in the words, so i figured during story boarding that having relatable sound effects or small pieces of animation amoung the blankness would be useful.
out of the entire section of narration i thought caked in your own body was the most haunting and could be a powerful visual.
Scene seven. Sound of the smell of my footsteps
I thought jumping the audience from one extreme emotion to the other would be a very thriller/teaser technique. so from dead, and caked in your own body, i used sound effects and animation to give a wistful feeling. the emotive design in this animation was a major factor. making the audience want more but terrified of the dry humored death, i believe this is one of the scenes that did that perfectly.
Scene eight. What will the sky be saying
This is another powerful scene, due to the contrast in colours, this is the first full screen image so far, it actually makes audiences squint at the brightness and the vastness, exactly the effect i was going for, since most of the promo is in darkness. this way, when the mountainous range and chocolate sky is revealed its a shock to the system, just like it would be in real life.
Scene nine. A small theory
This being a far longer paragraph i thought suited just the title and maybe near the more visual words, some animation. If i had included the type like i had for the last two word scenes, the audience wouldve been severely put off by all the reading, even though the words are being read out, you still follow and read them, turning the audience off the promo.
Scene ten. Waxy yellows
This is one of the visual sentences in the word scenes that i thought had to become animated.
im disappointed i didnt add puffy cloud, splats, waxy squishy noises in the final cut, but that would be my only regret for this scene. that and it goes a bit too fast for the effect i was going for.
Scene eleven. Who would replace me
This is a series of different poses, all with one action, tying boot laces, tugging/fixing cloak, swishing hair and pensive stare, all quick flashes that are long enough to understand but they are mere glimpses, never allowing you to properly see death.
building the curiosity, tension and confusion.
Scene twelve. Te answer, nobody
The climax, the final (very final) answer, from here its obvious who the narrator is, which is both mind blowing and chilling. its now confirmed you are seeing things from deaths point of view.
hopefully i made the voice over sound as depressing and serious, that and the swishy blurred animation, i think i captured the hallow forever wanderer character.
Scene thirteen. I vacation in colours.
slightly uplifting, less chilling but its now understandable, even death can appreciate the little things. making him a slave to humanity. his only love is the colours, which hopefully makes the audience that bit more appreciative emotions wise, and for what they are seeing, it usually brings a person down to earth a little more.
Its also the final, very finalizing shot of him turning away. yes to continue on working forever and ever, always busy, always alone, always sad, i was hoping it would come across bold and brave, but also spark some empathy.
Scene fourteen. The left over humans
This is where the patience gets lost, the explaining is mostly done and death no longer wants to really talk about subjects that annoy and disgust him.
i thought the 'ones i cant stand to look at' was quite a visually rich phrase, and was appropriate for the first last and only haunting glimpse of deaths eyes, staring straight into your human soul and then turning in annoyance
but for the proper effect i think i wouldve needed less colour and more detail in his eyes, as if they were inhuman and pulsing, i didnt capture it the way i wanted, and when he turns, however it exported, it ended up going to slow and loses its quick scary effect..
Scene fifteen. Punctured hearts and beaten lungs
defenseless, powerless and mourning, the abandoned humans who have just lost their loved ones, in deaths eyes they are scum, killing each other, killing themselves, sick humans who are slow dying from birth, always deteriorating and making his job harder and harder.
like the soul, i didnt want it too there and obvious, it was a representation of all humanity, no gender or race. just a hunched over sad outline, dying with a sickly heart and set of lungs.
the lungs and heart didnt turn out the way i had intended, they werent as vile looking, an most of the detail got lost between exporting and uploading.so im definitely not happy with this final version of this scene.
however any time i tried to focus more on the detail, the movements got lost, ,and visa versa. so it was the best of a bad lot in the end. i may return to this and fix it to a standard im happy with.
Scene sixteen. Perpetual survivor
once all horrible humans have been seen in the previous scene, represented by that one mourning figure. death finishes up, by explaining this story int about that vile topic, but instead a tougher breed of survivor, something he has a happier view on, a bolder view.
i ended up making the book thief slightly more grown up than id intended but it shouldnt matter as she ranges in ages in the book. i didnt like how similar to the 'the left over humans' scene, it exported wrong and shes too slow. if i was to go back id make her run off to the side faster, maybe animate the hair. it looks so 2 and lifeless now that i look back on it.
i thought after so much darkness this happy climatic 'to be continued' like ending needed a bright figure in the end to follow. so she was like a wistful white spirit. cant be caught, not even by death.
Scene eighteen. A small story really
This is the come down, its a little less happy, more serious, but intriguing. like a bed time story. i dont like how blatantly obvious the transitions are in the end, but i do thin i choose appropriately for introducing the characters as they are listed by death, ie a girl, and accordionist etc.
i thought it simple, to the point and bold considering its about to leave on a cliffhanger, it is meant to be a teaser after all.
my biggest complaint about this is actually how un noticeable the natzi army turned out to be, perhaps if i had added marching noises to it in the end, i wouldve made the pale red army stand out more.
but i think it nicely set the scene for anarchy. and an unusual story you kind of have to be curious about. after all, what has a girl, world war two, an accordionist and books got in common, i believe it leaves the audience at least wondering and curious by the end, and definitely up for reading the book or watching the upcoming movie.
Scene nineteen. The book thief.
now the scene has been set and curiosity in the audience ignited, its time to fade out on a last quick animation, no lingering or itll seem dragged on. and i didnt want the long teasers ending to be unusually abrupt.
sticking with the perpetual survivor colour (the book thief) lowing white, i had a feminine hand reach across screen, hesitate (showing theres more to the story) before snatching the book.
I was very happy how the final book thief symbol turned out, it isnt an easy sketchy title to copy, and make stand out. i was pleased how well it turned out, the title was definitely worth the time in my opinion.
Thats that, time for touch ups and put it all together. once you get to this point of any animation you think, ah im near done.... depending on how much post production you have to do, you may be no where near done. you might be done animation, bu what about effects, and putting it together and sounds, and all that.
it can be quite time consuming and misleading.
The Animatic
Due to this being a narration based animation, i decided an animatic would be helpful, mainly for timing purposes, but also to see if everything seemed in the right order, maybe certain scenes required more or less. this was my last chance at fixing anything before i started animating, after all time management is a big element in animation, or any project for that matter. So i couldnt afford to waste time starting an animation only to realize theres a problem and everything need redone.
Ive included a link below, but keep in mind this was for timing, not animating, so its mainly stills and motion tweens.
Im glad i did the animatic first, it gave me a better idea how long the animation would be in the end and allowed me to see i needed a better transition for the colours-humans scene.
I also noticed that the writing was too even, people type fast and slow, depending on the word and such.
https://vimeo.com/85758861
The sound didnt upload properly, so this wont be of much use to you all, however it will give you a general idea of how my planning process works.
Ive included a link below, but keep in mind this was for timing, not animating, so its mainly stills and motion tweens.
Im glad i did the animatic first, it gave me a better idea how long the animation would be in the end and allowed me to see i needed a better transition for the colours-humans scene.
I also noticed that the writing was too even, people type fast and slow, depending on the word and such.
https://vimeo.com/85758861
The sound didnt upload properly, so this wont be of much use to you all, however it will give you a general idea of how my planning process works.
Recording the narration!
Well thats the script sorted, even the storyboard. before i can actually animate anything i wanted the recording done to make sure it suited.
Now this was fun....apart from the whole looking like a crazy person reciting the same three strange pages again and again, more specifically reciting each line a dozen times a piece.
it was definitely interesting.
I had intended on recording a male voice all along, but due to a few unreliable volunteers, i ended up doing it myself.
At least when i did it myself i could control the tempo and redo it as many times as i wanted without apologizing to someone voice acting for me. However i hate the sound of my own voice, and it definitely doesnt suit the final animation, however for future projects i think it would be useful to record a draft version ie my voice over, for timing purposes etc, and to give the voice actor a better idea of what they should do.
I found it incredibly useful for the animatic but not the final animation.
When recording myself i tried recording a full version.
i tried recording line my line.
breath by breath.
scene by scene.
i then had to rerecord everything due to format problems, however this set back turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the different recording equipment i used got rid of a static background i couldnt shake.
Though the final version isnt perfect, its far better than earlier drafts, so i could definitely see an improvement from start to finish.
There are a few lines i just couldnt get right, but i think thats down to the fact my voice wasnt suitable, its female and not snarky enough. my least favorite recorded line was the 'where are my manners' part, it doesnt seem to sound right, but i recorded it every which way i could, it was down to unsuitability rather than not capturing the right tone.
Now this was fun....apart from the whole looking like a crazy person reciting the same three strange pages again and again, more specifically reciting each line a dozen times a piece.
it was definitely interesting.
I had intended on recording a male voice all along, but due to a few unreliable volunteers, i ended up doing it myself.
At least when i did it myself i could control the tempo and redo it as many times as i wanted without apologizing to someone voice acting for me. However i hate the sound of my own voice, and it definitely doesnt suit the final animation, however for future projects i think it would be useful to record a draft version ie my voice over, for timing purposes etc, and to give the voice actor a better idea of what they should do.
I found it incredibly useful for the animatic but not the final animation.
When recording myself i tried recording a full version.
i tried recording line my line.
breath by breath.
scene by scene.
i then had to rerecord everything due to format problems, however this set back turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the different recording equipment i used got rid of a static background i couldnt shake.
Though the final version isnt perfect, its far better than earlier drafts, so i could definitely see an improvement from start to finish.
There are a few lines i just couldnt get right, but i think thats down to the fact my voice wasnt suitable, its female and not snarky enough. my least favorite recorded line was the 'where are my manners' part, it doesnt seem to sound right, but i recorded it every which way i could, it was down to unsuitability rather than not capturing the right tone.
Starting the script and storyboards
I started the storyboards about a dozen times, the angles and view changed so much, it seems silly to make you all read it ALL, so ive only included one of the drafts and the final.
As you can see im very messy when it comes to work i think nobody will ever have to look at, but i think thats the same as writers as well, as long as i understand it is what matters. unless of course someone actually has to read it, then id need to fix a few lines and be a bit tidier with my hand writing.
But of course you cant storyboard until you are a hundred percent sure of what your story is.
This means scripting!
So i decided in the end to just go for the full three pages so the story maes sense, besides its a teaser promo, no fan wants half a page. they want more.
Below you can see the original pages, but by this stage id flipped throgh this book, especially those three pages so much the book was threatening to fall apart, so copied it out and numbered the lines, this came in handy when it came time for referencing the storyboards to the script so anyone could follow along.
Very little changed between this final story board and the final animation short. I didnt put extreme detail into the storyboards as i re did them so many times. i put detail in certain aspects that i wanted to remember, otherwise it was all basics shapes and scribbles, this was for planning purposes, not presentation.
As you can see im very messy when it comes to work i think nobody will ever have to look at, but i think thats the same as writers as well, as long as i understand it is what matters. unless of course someone actually has to read it, then id need to fix a few lines and be a bit tidier with my hand writing.
But of course you cant storyboard until you are a hundred percent sure of what your story is.
This means scripting!
So i decided in the end to just go for the full three pages so the story maes sense, besides its a teaser promo, no fan wants half a page. they want more.
Below you can see the original pages, but by this stage id flipped throgh this book, especially those three pages so much the book was threatening to fall apart, so copied it out and numbered the lines, this came in handy when it came time for referencing the storyboards to the script so anyone could follow along.
My referencing script.... to anyone going to do any story boarding with narration, i highly recommend having a copy of the narration like this and numbered, it makes things so much handier, and when it comes time for presentation or feedback, its easy enough to follow.
One of the draft storyboards, this is one of the last
The slightly tidier final storyboard.
Things i feel need included in a storyboard for me to follow, is a storyboard number.... to make sure nothing gets jumbled, i did this through page numbers.
extra room for notes.
sounds or sound effects that would come up in this shot.
if its a narration, a numbered referencing system, like ive done eg the second board on page one has lines 7-9.
any particular transitions, in and out
a word, line or small paragraph describing whats actually happening in the board.
This stuff for me personally are must haves when storyboarding, it makes life so much easier when explaining my work to others and regardless of how long ago i created the storyboard ill remember whats happening and of course it makes animating the storyboard easier, even in post production.
Very little changed between this final story board and the final animation short. I didnt put extreme detail into the storyboards as i re did them so many times. i put detail in certain aspects that i wanted to remember, otherwise it was all basics shapes and scribbles, this was for planning purposes, not presentation.
little bits of my research
With research into mysterious characters and current death adaptions, ive noticed, the face is one of the biggest aspects normally because there isnt one, or its n half/dim light.
Ive noticed in many movies and photographs, they use lighting to emphasis how mysterious a character is, and i dont just mean it all has to be dark, sometimes its too bright to see.
I wanted to portray my version of death, in a mysterious, warm but ominous way.
At this point im finalizing the narration, my biggest problem is deciding weather to narrate the entire prologue or just bits and pieces. if i dont read it all it wont make sense, and its so beautifully written, itd be a pity to not include it all, however its long, and most of it doesnt require anything on screen, infact some parts, especially haunting parts, will require nothing on screen for dramatic purposes. This i will discuss with peers, but i dont think ill be a hundred percent happy with either option.