Dream Biggest - Final Class Iteration

Dream Biggest Second Iteration from Raj Brueggemann on Vimeo.

Here is my final project for Animation 300: a still-incomplete but slowly improving project that has pushed the limits of my technical skills and my ability to learn how to get out of my head and enter another. The tale, short but poignant, follows the story of Emma, confined in an apartment in a dystopia in which their lights get shut off by an autocratic government.

Crack final animation by Casey Brockette

Crack from Casey Brockette on Vimeo.

Final

Dog Years from Alexa Borromeo on Vimeo.

I changed it! Again. Which I regret doing last-minute but I'm glad I did; the last version of my final was just underwhelming and I like how this one turned out. There are a few sounds that I'm on the fence about, so I might go back later and see if I can find better ones.
This one is about a little spirit/ghost named Vince who breaks the light so he has to go get a new one.  Sorta half-inspired by "The Changing Light at Sandover" by James Merrill.

Animation Final

Final Final Animation!

Oh Animation Final Draft from So Ye Oh on Vimeo.

I am finally done with making my own longest animation. I have learned many animation skills through this class and became to love animation so much. I am not sure if animation is the field I want to jump into in the future, but I definitely want to learn and create more animations.
Based on the feedback I got from class, I fixed the animation. I do not think it is perfectly done, but I tried hard to make the best animation among the others I have made. With Final Cut Pro and Freesound.org, I listened to such many sound effects and did my best to choose perfect sounds for the video.
Since the silhouette world was too short, I added more scenes for it. Also, when the bird and the bunny fall down from the door at the beginning, the bird is too small compared to the last scene of the silhouette world. So, I added the scenes of the bird eating an apple and growing up. It was enjoyable to use Dragonframe again and to play again with shadows.
The only thing I am not sure about is the last part. I took a photo of the bunny standing on my drawer, and as one of my classmates advised, I tried to use motion blur in After Effects and to zoom in the rabbit. Then I thought it would end really clean, but when I zoomed in the bunny, it got blurred. I did not want the blurred ending for the video, so that is why I just left the ending as it is.
It is not a perfect animation, but I want everyone else to have fun watching it. The story does not make sense at all, but I hope that everyone enjoy the no-make-sense plot and the distinctive worlds which are done with different animation skills.

Do da dew doo. Dew da dew dew dew. Do da dew doo. Dew da dew dew doo It's the FINAL countdown!!!

The Smiler from Lauren League on Vimeo.

It took me a looooooooooooong time to do this, but I finally finished rotoscoping the whole thing. In this version, I have added music and removed the background from some of the running scenes, as Heidi Suggested. The music is an upbeat 50's style to contrast with the dark content of the video. I would consider myself successful in this if it gives you all the creeps, or at least makes you feel unsettled.

Final

FINAL!!!

TOIL-APOCALYPSE from David Chang on Vimeo.

Well, previously I took the moving image class thinking that animation is what I need to do in the future. After that class I became to dislike the whole slow process of animations But I still love seeing behind making animation video. So I challenged myself and took this class again hoping that my interest in animation will come back to me. Working on Toil-apocalypse I think I finally regained the desire to create animation. This was new approach, I mostly used multiple layers in photoshop and put that to after effect to animate them I just had some issues with flow of overall story line so I tweaked the arrangement of animation also added the title page, ending, and most importantly backgrounds I put endless effort to create this animation and in the end I think it was worth all the time I took into this. enjoy.

The Auraubade

Everything is fixed.

Gaia Final Version!

Gaia Final Version from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

This is it- my final animation with credits and sound effects!

I changed a few sounds since the last time we met. They are still noises I made myself or sounds I used from iLife and Final Cut sound effects. This final version is posted on the server along with another version titled EArgiroff_Gaia_sound_collaboration that includes the soundtrack created by James Cornelison, the music student I collaborated with! His music is not finalized yet, which is why I didn't post it on Vimeo. I am amazed at how the mood of the animation changes depending on the soundtrack.

I am happy with the final product. I think I achieved my goal of evoking a sense of evolution and creation through fluid transformations and gestural line quality. I would like to build on this animation and experiment with different textures and brushes in Photoshop and other software like flash and After Effects. I also want to try an animation that uses non-digital drawings and paintings. I feel like my interest in animation has been ignited, not only by creating my own animation, but by viewing a variety of other animations from classmates, professors and experimental filmmakers.

"The Momster" FINALIZED version

Momster FINAL from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

This is my finalized version of "The Momster." I fixed some parts such as re-animating the falling underwear and adjusting the timing to match the narration. I also took out some narration parts because I felt there was too much talking when the animation can do the rest. Moreover I included additional sound effects to enhance the animation. I am still a bit troubled with the occasional flashing.
Overall I am glad that I chose to challenge myself with using After Effects because I learned a lot about using the program and animating. I feel like I have broadened my tools of expressing in the art field even more.

Animations from Ann Arbor Art Center Drawing Class

These animations are composed of drawings done by students taking a drawing course through the Ann Arbor Art Center. The teacher, Nick Farrell, had students draw a single model at different angles. He animated their drawings into short videos. I think this is a great way to display student work and encourage them to take their drawings a step further.

Check out more from Ann Arbor Art Center. They're doing a number of awesome art projects and offer great classes.

Dream Biggest: Rough Draft sans audio/final scene

Dream Biggest First Iteration from Raj Brueggemann on Vimeo.

This project is nearing fruition, and I have about a week left to finish it. Compositing the shots into sequential footage was a much longer and more challenging process than I had anticipated. I spent a great deal of time testing out the timing of each shot. Some glitches in the project include:

-Timing issues
-render glitches
-Inconsistent color in some areas
-Some shots could be improved with detail

if you guys have any comments or feedback, I'd love to hear them before next Tuesday! Score and audio are on their way, as well.

Toilapocalypse

Toilapocalypse from David Chang on Vimeo.

As soon as vimeo finishes the rendering, I will post the video here
I roughly finished the film but I have kind of temporary sound for now, again, sound is my weak spot so I am worried about creating perfect sound I want

General timings are done i just need little more details on the background part
I am satisfied that it is finally polished art form

used black out lines to make it look clean overall

I am planning to put some rough grunge texture over all the animation

3 scenes with the basic animations and sounds added. I liked the suggestion about using unexpected sound or the opposite of what you'd expect for the setting. What I've added here is interesting because (especially with the lamppost setting) the sound + animation makes it kind of creepy instead of the quiet suburb look it had originally. I'm following the light/dark theme; the final piece is a transition from dark in light to light in dark. I had an idea of it being similar to switching channels through a radio, but the transitions I applied between scenes are too basic and make it look like an old TV. (Which is also why the sounds are static). I'm also going to make the animations smoother for the final product.

I see plentiful amounts of rotoscoping in the horizon...

I finally know the content of the entire piece! It is primarily rotoscoping.  This is an animatic along with my source material that I am rotoscoping off of and everything I have rotoscoped so far.  It'll definitely take a while but I'm going to do some shots with lower frame rates than others.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, but it does parallel the beginning.  Thoughts?

Final Project Progress

Here are some of the in progress characters and settings for my story.  I am sticking with the childhood narrative, but I have not been able to record a spoken version that sounds right.  I am going to use the subtitles with a soft instrumental piece.  

I am a behind on this project, but will try to finish the scenes ASAP so I can really start animating.

Widmer Final

Momster Final Draft

momster FINAL draft from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

This is my almost final draft of the Momster movie. I have a few things to fix here and there, such as putting in a background music and putting transitions between some scenes. I also need to adjust the timing of some parts to match with the narration. I think I have to either create additional scenes or take out a part of the narration as well. I am also thinking of adding more sound effects here and there or changing some if I find a better one. I need to add the ending credits too. I might add some voices as well. Something that is really troubling me though is how some of the scenes seem to blink or flash, which I have no idea why. However, I realized that After Effects is becoming easier and easier the more I use.

Final with experimental sound effects- April 17th

 
Gaia with Sound from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

I experimented with sound effects this week. These sounds are not made by the music students, they are ones I created myself or found on final cut. I tried to enhance the abstract quality of the animation with sounds that don't necessarily apply or objectify the visuals I created. In many places I layered the sound effects to create a more dynamic and textured audio track.

I am curious to see what the class has to say about the areas where the sound effects are more obvious, especially the loon calls and the mixture of animal sounds in the middle. I'm not sure if these areas work as well as they could and I'll probably experiment with more abstract sounds for the final.

I am very excited to hear from the music students! I'll probably end up with a few final versions to choose from.

Final Draft

Animation Longer Project Final Draft from So Ye Oh on Vimeo.

This is my final draft (supposed to be..). I added more scenes for the world under the sea and added the reality scene. From the animation, I like that everything in the story does not make sense, which was my main purpose. After I finish it, I think I still have to work on the transition from the first world to the silhouette world. Also, I have time until 29th, so I will try to do more silhouette stop motion and add scenes to the second world.
I will definitely double check the sound effects, and if there are better sounds, I will replace the sounds.
It took such long time to finish the animation, but I truly enjoyed drawing, doing stop motion, and using After Effects. After Effects was hard to use but is definitely a good experience for me to have a new way to create an animation. I still want to learn more about After Effects and want to get more used to using it. Watching the animation, I am glad that I have learned so much in this class and that I can create my own precious animation.

Scene 2 Corrections

Watermark should be taken out, made adjustments to layer mask. I will add in reflections to Scene 1, then put up the final version.

Maxted_Backgrounds and Stills

Finished backgrounds and stills, more to come:

Dream Biggest: Final Sequence, First Draft (sans sound) lalalalala

Singin' In the Rain from Raj Brueggemann on Vimeo.

This is the first draft. Timing issues, choppiness, consistency of motion and detail levels are among the main issues to fix for the second iteration. This experience has forced me to develop an organized system of correcting and improving my skills in After Effects. It was nice to finish this first, as a beacon of this project's ending on the right note.

Part of Final Project

      

    
 
Here are a few of the storyboard and more completed images for my animation.  I am animating using After Effects, so I am focusing for now on completing all of the layers/images that will be manipulated.

Portion of my final

Here is a sample recording of my roommate.  It's really not the best... but it will do for now, at least just for an example.

Since I am having trouble getting one full sitting with a lot of (his) voice in it, I might just stitch together some pieces to make a "full clip."  I have another 34-minute recording, but it has a lot of silence in it.

And, as always, you can see my progress on the animations at http://gamingroommate.tumblr.com/.

Maxted_Preheating the oven...

The interview that I've chosen has been edited down to 1:45 minutes.
Very rough animatic for "Rhubarb":

"Rhubarb" Animatic from Manami Maxted on Vimeo.

Test clip of rhubarb growth:

Rhubarb Progress Critique from Manami Maxted on Vimeo.
I'm in love with the background in this particular clip because it's the color of cooked rhubarb.  Man, I want rhubarb pie...

I'm a little behind in terms of "Rhubarb," but will be working intensively on it in the coming days.

I've also uploaded to the server the finished animated clips that were used for The Great God Pan.

Dog Years In-Progress

Bridgett Rotoscope2 audio from Alexa Borromeo on Vimeo.

Still rotoscoping...I know...

After rotoscoping though, the majority will be recorded drawing so the process will go much more quickly.  Will sit down with this for a long time this weekend!!!

What do you think of adding light shadows to the rotoscope?

part of final film

these are the parts of final illustrations

I am trying to finish all the illustration first and do animation since animation part is not very crucial for my film

what I am focusing at the moment is the content of illustration

Auraubade

 This includes my transition to the second scene.

Final Project Progress #4

momster draft 3 from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

I am almost half-way done with my animation so far. However I still need to tweak things here and there and put it some smooth transitions between scenes. I am also worried about what I should do with my background--leave them white or put in an actual background that shows a setting. I have also finished my narration, although I did not upload all of it in the video. I only uploaded the portion that matches with how much far I got with the animation. I am having a difficult time with narrating more than I thought. My voice still seems to lack some emotion and I am thinking of recording some parts again. Moreover, I need to retime some of the animations to match with my narration. Although I did retime them at first because the animations went too fast, but this time it is too slow. I also need to put it more sound effects and some music.

EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS

Oh Animation Longer Project Draft (Th) from So Ye Oh on Vimeo.

I am still working on the world under the sea. I will insert other scenes and will also work on the transitions from one world to another. So far, I have done a lot of works, which makes me really glad. For sound effects, I have chosen some sounds for the worlds in my animation, and am still looking for perfect sounds.

I changed the movement of the first city world. I think it turned out better and clearer than the previous one. 

I really did not have learned anything else other than basic tools of After Effects and am still trying to get used to using the program. From now on, for the other scenes of the sea world, I will more play around with After Effects.  

Some in-progress settings. I haven't added the animation yet, but so far I'm planning to compile everything into a video with sound effects (but probably no background music). I've noticed in making these and in drafting other settings that I'm mostly playing with bright light in dark spaces, so I'm thinking to either continue this theme to the end or making the settings more well-rounded.

Portion of Final for April 8th

Gaia Fourth Round from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.


I focused on some final touches for this week's animation because the drawing is basically complete. I like the way the animation ends with the water droplets so I made no adjustments. I changed the credits from standard text to hand drawn text which fits in much better with my animation. The Gaia title has more gestural lines than my name in order to differentiate between the subject and author of the piece.

This is not all I did. The video posted on the blog does not include the sound effects I experimented with this week. I used a portion of the piece that the music student provided to me along with sound effects I made and ones I found on final cut. The video with these sounds is posted on the server because I still need to get in touch with the music student to make sure the changes are okay with him. Also, I don't know whether I should write his name into the piece like I did for my own.

I really like this new piece with sound but I don't know if it will be my final. Another music student contacted me about doing the sound for my video for his final piece. I am very excited to collaborate with him as well! He will be providing me with sound this week or next and I may decide to use his sounds for my final piece.

Beginning of Final Project

I've chosen a story for my final project, and am breaking up the sentences so that I can animate a graphic for each one.  I've started drawing images for first couple of phrases, and am currently using a  similar style to my earlier hallway animation.  I haven't created an audio for this yet that I actually like - all of them are me reading the story with slightly different inflections.  I think I'm going to record one of my friends reading and reacting to the story this weekend, and see if I like that.  I might also like to try recording an adult reading the story in a clear, neutral manner.

The only thing that I'm really worried about is the clarity - I would like to add an introduction that establishes this as a children's story, but some of the sentences don't really connect with each other very well.  I think that I can make the sequence clearer through drawings of the action, but it might still be a little confusing.

First Experiment for Final Project

For my final project, I would like to animate one of the stories that I wrote when I was in elementary school.

I chose to do an experiment using one of the shorter compositions that I had on hand (at the time, I was thinking of including several short works, but now I'm animating one of the longer ones instead).  When making this, I was really influenced by the feeling that I had to connect the story to another idea - to put into some kind of context.  I observed that all of my writing samples were very repetitive, and began to create a story that would describe their similarities to brainwashing.

I'm not really satisfied by this experiment.  Foremost, the audio was a big mistake.  I thought that the computer generated voice, reading a children's story, would be surprising and unsettling (and also kind of funny).  However, viewing the completed animation, I feel that it is not effective.  Foremost, it still feels like "canned" audio... If I want to create a better brainwashing effect through sound in the future, I'm going to make it myself.  Also, I feel that there is not enough examples/explanations included to amusingly support the claim that children are trying to brainwash us.  I would ideally establish a line of reasoning (like how the writing is repetitive and about simple concepts) and develop it beyond simply reading the story.

Also, I feel that I did not utilize the images as well as I could have.  I cut out the words and drawings from the scan of my writing and timed them to match the audio, but I just put them in order, on a white background.  I should have changed their orientation and inserted more external images to better convey the idea of brainwashing.

I am pleased with the typing effect that I created in the introduction.  I'm not sure if I want to use exactly the same effect in my final project, but I am including the text of the short story in the visual part of the animation.

Final Project: Momster Progress Report 3

Momster progress movie 2 from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

This is how far I got with After Effects for now. I struggled with a lot of Effects and how I wanted to portray some scenes. For example, I wanted the flag to appear and then rip to reveal the stairs coming down, but I still have not figured out how to do that yet. I have far to go and it is a bit frustrating how slow I am with After Effects. From here on I plan to morph the Godzilla monster into my mother when she was about 28. I also have to fix the airplane that the Godzilla is shaking into a spatula and make it wear a crown to relate it to my mom. I need to record my narrations as well. After recording I think timing would be easier.

Additional scene after the desk. It's a closer view of the kid's desk as he talks; I picked a Newton's Cradle because I was trying to think of what a tacky/pretentious desk accessory a boss would have. I might play around with the clarity of the toy; it'll begin as out of focus and then adjust.

Originally, the whole overall project idea was to follow this short narrative with other short stories within the same universe. But after doing these animations I'm realizing that I'm super not interested in doing a straightforward narrative and it's not really satisfying. I want to stick with this style and universe setting but return to subtle animations within an environment/setting; with sound effects. At this point, I don't know if it'd be better to just finish this animation before moving on to those or just scrapping this.

April Fools Experiment

Experimentation with Perspective

New final project

http://gamingroommate.tumblr.com/

With a sudden stroke of inspiration at 2am, while being sleep-deprived by my loud, obnoxious gamer roommate, I decided I wanted to animate some of the phrases he screams whilst gaming (because he says the strangest things).

So instead of one full video clip, I aim to do a bunch of GIFs.  It was suggested to me that I remove the context, which might make it a bit more captivating to be reading a bunch of phrases/seeing a bunch of animations that don't really make sense.  Thoughts?

Another World Included

I have drawn some scenes for another world where the rabbit and the other creature adventure. So far, I really enjoyed what I have done and am excited to include other worlds. The number of the worlds will be 4 to 5 including reality. For another world following the silhouette scene, I will use After Effects. (This time, the world will be colored.) I am working with Photoshop for elements to play with After Effects.
It is actually hard to find sounds that are perfectly suitable for each world, but so far I have used sounds from Final Cut Pro and free sounds from online. Also, I have friends who are in music major so will ask them to get advice.

pizza animatic

Battle Scene

Fight sequence from David Chang on Vimeo.

I continued with use after effect with the slightly moving images I've always wanted to use the "marvel comic" looking animation on the battling scene of my animation and here it is using it it think this slow movement really brings out the dramatic atmosphere to whole animation

Maxted_Interviews

MEMORIES - Audio Samples from Manami Maxted on Vimeo.

Here are a few audio samples from some interviews I conducted.  I chose to include my voice in the interviews because I wanted the stories to be conversational.  I also wanted to be included because the people that I interviewed have affected me in one way or another, and I hoped that the project would come across as personal.

I'm within the process of editing the audio now.  You might notice the low hum in the background; though I don't mind the table creaking or the ruffling of clothing so much, I simply can't stand the loud ambient sound.  I'm having a hard time reducing these sounds in Final Cut Pro... Any suggestions?  Should I try to use a different program?

As soon as the audio is edited (each interview down to about a minute), I will be storyboarding, then going right to animating.  Of course, I'm hoping to use some of the rotoscoped footage that I worked on earlier this semester (the clips that I animated for The Great God Pan), but I still have a lot to go.

Gaya Third Round from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

I continue to add to my experiment and create abstractions of archaic animals (woolly mammoths) and evolutionary concepts (development of the spinal chord). I pay particular attention to layering my drawing techniques and varying my line quality. I am satisfied with the texture of the the trunk-like object that falls from the sky and the overlapping of contour lines and fills that make up the spinal chord. I add more drama by retiming portions of the cockroach and rotating dot clips to have slower and faster movements.

I need to start thinking about creative and clever ways to conclude this piece. I have considered revisiting each of the objects I have introduced but I think a better ending would include visuals that have not been introduced yet. I've been working without a plan but a storyboard might be useful for the final segment.

Finally, one of the music students created an experiment sound piece for my animation. I posted this video to the server since the animation does not include the portions I worked on this week. I am extremely excited to have sound in my piece and I like the progression of the sound he created. I also think the sound syncs well with the explosion and evolution of fish and birds (a slight wild bird sound can be heard in the background). He is working on tweaking the music to make it more subdued, abstract and eerie.

118 North Ingalls intro

pizza supper WIP

super fetus draft of final short animation

After effect Version

toilapocalypse from David Chang on Vimeo.

this is another experiment for the same scene but using after effect I used camera movement with blur effect to show fluent story telling also saw how it looked with different layers I am happy with this version, so I might continue with this style

Final cut version

Toil-Apocalyse (version 1) from David Chang on Vimeo.

tried using final cut for the animatic controlling camera was tough but it has cool effect

Final Animation - Experiment

Bridgett Photo Experiment from Alexa Borromeo on Vimeo.

For this experiment, I mashed up a few different techniques to play with the ideas of memory and how memories come in pieces and often fade in and out.  This technique could be more effective if I used only one or two parts of an actual picture in my final animation to suggest a scene or memory.

Shin_Final Project Progress 2

assembled from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

Here is how far I have gone with my animation on After Effects. Although there isn't much progress, I worked more on finalizing my narration because I thought animating according to the narration was best. Also, I worked a lot on Photoshop with my comic images and making them into separate layers. That took longer time than I thought because I had to redraw some parts after cutting them out. I am almost done with making all my comic drawings into separate layers, so I am excited to start animating. To plan ahead, I am thinking of sketching out a storyboard for animation. I also have a general picture in my head of how I will play it out and what sound effects I want to put it. The only thing that worries me is how limited I am in After Effects.
I am also not sure rather I want to put in a voice or a speech bubble because having both speech bubbles and a narration in the background might be too much to absorb for the audience.

experiment #1 (super delayed!)

My file was waaaaaay to big to export as a video, so I used quicktime to create a screen recording of it.

I really liked the idea of working with a real environment and drawn characters (hence the paper cutout background), so I went ahead and did a little test of this.  This inspired one of my ideas for the final project, animating two characters I created in high school:

I am not going with this idea though for the final.

experiment #5/planning for final

Here is the unfinished animatic for my final project!  I'm working with Alex Goldsmith from the music class to make the sound/music for the final.

The story:
A man goes down in a submarine to visit the submerged city (think New York City-esque location).  He explores a bit and finds his old apartment, specifically his kids' playroom.  He picks up a toy and leaves.  (and I won't spoil the ending)

The Sunrise

The sun rises over a disparate landscape as an observer performs the Auraubade.

Alternate cut:

Only about a second has been added to my project so far. The last line Roscoe says is "Dress up!" It is a little difficult to understand so I am considering writing the words dress up somewhere on that scene for clarity.

Another shot but w/audio. I don't really like how stiff the movements are, or at least the lines, when the hand and folder move before and after the hand animation, so I'm going to go back and draw those instead of just moving the position.

More More Experiment

I am animating one of dreams I had, and the story is that two characters adventure different surreal worlds. So, one of the worlds is created out of the silhouette stop motion I did, and for the other worlds, I would use different types of animation to make my whole piece fun to watch!

After this stop motion, I am currently drawing elements for After Effects to also experiment and play around more and more! For the crucial part I should work on for this piece is to find a sound for this space. Finding a sound is really hard, but I am trying hard to find it from both Final Cut Pro and freesound.org.

Gaya... The Experiment Continues from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

I continue to explore transformation and the ideas of creation. I include some more figurative drawings in this segment but I think the abstract gestures are more successful because they allow me to focus on the movement and the transformation of the subjects, rather than realistic depiction. I am excited to include sound effects and would like to continue varying my line quality and movement. I am especially curious about taking a simple image (such as the feather and the water droplet) and transforming it into different characters based on its movement. I will approach the next segment with an open mind and willingness to explore.

Widmer.experiment.05

Rogers_Peter_Rotoscoping Sample

League_DragonFruit -- First Iteration

DragonFruit from Lauren League on Vimeo.

Maxted_The Great God Pan

Test Animation - "Invisible Guest" from Manami Maxted on Vimeo.

A very simple test animation!
Part of my project is animated clips for a play that is going to be put on at the Residential College, and production weekend is in a little less than two weeks.  The longest clip is going to be about a minute long, so I've been dedicating most of my time to that; the clip here is only a small portion of it.  I still have so much to do!
I wanted to show this portion because I think it ended up looking pretty neat.  That is, by omitting the subject (a man), I created an image of a sort of supernatural being passing through the door.  The whole clip is supposed to be a flashback where a certain character is hazy and hard to recall.

I wish I could have started coloring by now, but rotoscoping is kind of a bitch.
I like the way it looks, but it's aggressively time consuming.  Ah, well... I brought it upon myself.
Not exactly complaining, just... empathizing.  You know what I'm saying?  Okay.

Neff_pre-final planning and practice animation

For my animation, I am collaborating with two music students who are hoping to do a performance piece including their music as well as various projected animations onto different sculptural pieces. I matched this animation up to a part of one of their songs "118 North Ingalls", and plan to expand this and do an animation to the full song for my final.

Chen_Experiment05

This is the general style I want to work with, though the drawing of the kid is still pretty rough here.
I lifted audio from an old safety video and spliced it to create a dialogue/narrative, and then I'm planning to animate a story along with it. It's straightforward, though the only part I'm having trouble with is matching the words with the mouth and facial expressions. And that's mostly because I haven't figured out a good way to put markers where certain words are because it moves so fast.

Oh_Longer Project Part

This is an experiment of silhouette stop motion, a starting point for my longer project. It was difficult to move around all the parts I cut, which required such a long time to create this short scene. However, I personally think that it turned out as a pretty good piece, so I would continue experimenting not only the silhouette, but also everything I have learned so far in this class. It is really exciting to experiment with various types of animation techniques, and I hope my longer piece would turn out as an interesting piece.

Shin_Final Project Experiment

This is the basic format I will be going for in my final project. I am thinking of using After Effects and doing very simple animations using the scans of my drawings. However, I am considering about drawing my comic again since they look so pixelated and blurry. I first started off my cutting out and making many layers out of my scanned drawings. So far I made multiple layers for the first three boxes of my comic. I was a bit surprised when I opened the psd files on After Effects because the layers did not show up as it did on Photoshop. For now I experimented more with applying basic transformation effects. It was a little frustrating because I want to do very well on this, good enough to include it in my portfolio, but I am very limited in After Effects since it is my first time learning it. For sound effects, I temporarily borrowed some by the music student. I am interested in working with the music students to create sound effects for my final project.
 
momster test from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

Pedrasa_final animation experiment [wip]

wip wip wip wip wip of a background study
digital painting practice
character not included

Argiroff_Gaya Exp-05

Gaya from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

This animation will be the foundation for my final project. I continue to explore themes of creation and metamorphosis and experiment with drawing techniques and self-made sound effects. I limited myself to drawing with a white line on a black background in order to focus creating smooth transformations and interesting line qualities. I don't know if I will limit myself in the same way for my final project. I am also interested in collaborating with the music and technology students to see what sound effects/ music they could provide. I feel like their sounds would really add to an abstract animation like this.

Burns_Claymation Test

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Neff_clay experiment

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Strand_Claymation Experiment

For this animation, I wanted to create some sort of character.  I was inspired by the computer generated creatures (such as the Anomalocaris) in the BBC documentary "Walking with Monsters".

http://supernovacondensate.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/screen-shot-2012-06-21-at-19-05-10.png?w=640

I also wanted to try to animate the character so that it moved quickly.  I think that the jumpy movement that I created is fairly successful.  I am not sure the sound for this video is as successful, however.  I tried to create a "slimy" noise for the creature, but I'm not sure that this resulting video is as interesting or entertaining as it could be.

I found this experiment to be particularly enjoyable, as it was one of my first attempts to animate a dynamic character.

Borromeo_Haaay Claaay

Claymation Experiment from Alexa Borromeo on Vimeo.

Chen_clay experiment

Strand_Claymation Inspiration

An interesting claymation that I forgot to post last week.  I really like the level of detail that is achieved in each of the animated forms.

Oh_Bloom_claymation test

Claymation Experiment!

Maxted_Half a Mermaid

Test Animation - "Mermaid Flail" from Manami Maxted on Vimeo.

Through this experimental animation, I wanted to replicate the loose, floppy movements of a fish's tail.
I was surprised by how smooth the final product turned out.  However, I did not anticipate the white paper (laid under and extended behind the clay) bubbling, nor did I foresee the camera moving (well, it could have been the camera, or perhaps I sometimes placed the clay in such a way that made the animation look jerky at some parts).
Overall though, it was a great learning experience.  Dragonframe is a great tool!

Shin_Chang_Claymation Test

Claymation test from Maria Shin on Vimeo.

For our claymation experiment, we first created very abstract, strange creatures and built our storyline from them. We also challenged ourselves by including a candle. We tried imitating the movement of a candle light, although we did not have much success. Moreover, we worked on the motion of moving, accelerating, and embracing. The yellow creature comes in at first while walking slowly, but later accelerates when it approaches close to the stone character. I like how smooth the hugging motion came out. 

Widmer_swimming clay experiment

Brueggemann-clay experiment_Colors

Colors from Raj Brueggemann on Vimeo.


Over spring break, I used what clay I had lying around my old preschool play set to experiment with claymation. I wanted to use stop motion to combine with a dynamic camera shot, in which the subject of the image remained stationary but objects moved around the figure. I placed pieces of clay at different distances to enhance sense of depth and movement, while moving the character in a way to specifically react to the moving camera: peering over his shoulder, turning suspiciously, and limited by the form of his squishy, oily body.

The idea I called "Colors". I'd written a short story of a plain clay figure that was slowly being surrounded by colored monoliths that bounced and crept toward him.

I shot the video over four hours, but I only ended up with five seconds of footage. This experiment, I cannot help but feel like it was a failure. But it was a good failure. Here are the mistakes I made, and want to correct in the future:

-The camera panned too fast. I need to make the changes in camera angle more subtle between shots to have a smoother, slower view of the scene.
-I needed to make the character smoother, thinner, and move with more fluidity by having him ease in and out of poses. His overall motion, too, could have been slower.
-The lighting on some of the clay pieces could have been stronger, to help the color pop.

Overall, this experiment was a great learning exercise, and taught me to discipline myself by shooting more in-between frames. Animation is hard work, and to create a stunning video, there is no shortcut. It takes time, and perseverance, more than anything else.

Argiroff_walrus-clay

Walrus. from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

This is a claymation collaboration with Peter.
We made our own sound effects.
And clay creatures.
Walrus.

Robert_clay_"ew" by me!

Haven't made sounds for it (yet?), but it adequately grossed my parents out, so mission accomplished!

Chang_clay example_snail

Together - clay animation from Aimee de Jongh on Vimeo.
this lacks of technical side but it is definitely interesting approach to use actual claymation and mix it with after effect

Maxted_stopmotion example

You've probably watched this before, but just in case you haven't...
Very successful stop motion animation!

Brueggemann_Look at how they made THIS!

The making of: The Eagleman Stag
One heck of a movie

Making The Eagleman Stag from Mikey Please on Vimeo.

Borromeo_COOLRUNNINGS

COOLRUNNINGS - Chorus from Rafael Bonilla Jr. on Vimeo.

Claymation mixed with other animation styles and cool colors.  Funky fresh.

Chen_Claycat's Evil Dead

 very violent but with cats

Argiroff_Interesting Claymation Sample

I am transfixed by the movements and transformations of these creatures in their fantastical habitats. The gestures are very smooth and well-done. This is a good example how music and sound effects can really add to a visual piece. This animation becomes and interpretive dance because of the strange and eerie music playing in the background. I wish Schulnik had not used real photos. They create an almost jarring contrast to the beautifully worked claymation.

Robert_Takena - "Shitcom"

Here is my favorite claymation artist on YouTube! There are a lot of gore-y and gross videos on his channel!

This one is my favorite!


And here is another!

Shin_Claymation Inspiration movie

Birthday Claymation

I thought it was very cute how the shark's fin moved around as if it was really under water. The movements are also very smooth.


Birthday Claymation from Doug Smith Media on Vimeo.


Android 207

This piece is also very interesting. An android goes through a maze while facing many horrible obstacles. The animation movements are pretty simple.

Pedrasa_claymation inspiration

even if you're not a whovian, this is still amazing and shall be appreciated by all

(look at how much time and effort this Doctor Who fan did! look at it!!)

Sturm_experimental animation inspiration

Three Scenes of the End - Jeff Bloomer
 If Bird of Devil - Jeff Bloomer

Sturm AE Assignments

big bro. from sarah. on Vimeo.
AE Experiment

AE Intro Assignment

Sturm_Sand Experiment

Sand Version Sturm

Chang_Struggling Windmill

windmill from David Chang on Vimeo.
the prompt was Windmill, Struggling, Disney

Strand_Experiment 3: Sand Stop Motion

For our experiment, we worked with both paper cutouts and sand.  We used simple shapes, with an emphasis on learning the most basic advantages and disadvantages to the media.  We created a basic impression of creatures interacting in a watery environment.  A positive consequence of keeping the material so simple was that we were able to shoot more frames - thus, we were fairly successful at creating smooth movement within the composition.  However, we might benefit in the future from doing such an experiment with more complicated forms.

* I added some weird sound to this; I was just experimenting with vast, watery noises.  I'm not really sure if it works with this piece, though.  -Sarah

Rogers_Sand Art Experiment

This animation was an experiment in forms that lend themselves best to the sand art medium. We found that continuous line forms and circular gestures are the easiest to make and animate, but in order to create visual interest we had to manipulate the sand in more complex ways. In the future, I would like to create more elaborate forms over a longer period of time, because I feel like sand is a good medium for complex designs to emerge.

For my sound experiment, I used a number of different rhythms I found appealing in order to create an ambience that lends itself to the piece, both backwards and forwards.

Argiroff_sand experiment

Stop-Motion Animation Sand Experiment from Emma Argiroff on Vimeo.

In this experimental animation, Duncan, Beiatrix, Alexa and I tried to capture the reproductive nature of bacteria, essence of plant growth and humor of a public bathroom. We did not follow a specific storyline and instead explored how we could continuously transform the sand to achieve the overall effects we wanted. There are some spots where the animation jumps a little because there was to much of a transformation between frames. With practice, we will get better at judging the amount of transition that should be made. The sound effects are meant to provide additional interest and a quirky twist. They are done by layering final cut pro and apple foley sound effects. If we were to do another animation we would explore using our own sound effects. Overall, we are happy with our creation.