Swimming pool shenanigins

Team Kelpies were (foolishly) allowed into the union swimming pool to do some primary research today! This basically involved 2 Stef and Kirsteen flinging themselves into the water for an hour, whilst the rest of us were on official photographer duty :D

Just a few shots from the afternoon.

10% Scene

As part of our Christmas 'hand-in,' we're to have 10% of our film completed. We have been planning on doing a scene with quite a bit of water in it, but since it's proving to be such a challenge, we're thinking about using some of the interior scenes instead. This means that we'll be able to think about the water a bit longer, as we're still not getting the 2D feel we're looking for. It's a toughy! Doing the interior scenes means we can start animation, finishing the backgrounds etc. Plus, it'll be great to get a break from the water :D

Water Textures

In an effort to make the water look 2Dish, we've being trying to use textures. We tried doing 'subtle,' and that didn't work, so now we're just going all out and using 'contrasty' textures. These are a few of the ones I did last night.

These were all done in Art Rage 2, which has some really cool texture/brush settings, although a little gimmicky to look at. Some of them were also inspired by textures and line work from films like 'Old Fangs,' and 'The Secret of Kells,' both by Cartoon Saloon.

Painty Wave Tests

We've been concerned about how the water is going to look in Kelpies, since it's in 3D, and the characters & environments are in 2D, so we've been experimenting with painting on top of the sea. These are just a few tests (both done fairly quickly). The first is without any painted 'waves,' the second is with.

Loadsa life drawing

these have been done over the semester. there are more but it was awkward to scan, so i just selected a few. i can never decide if i prefer working with pen or pencil; pen is so much looser, but pencil allows for more detail... maybe i should combine both!

Colour Keys

So I tried to whip up some colour keys a few weeks ago, except I wasn't getting very far, and I wasn't happy with the results. I decided that I might have more luck doing just the 10% (we're to have 10% of our film (so 15 seconds) completely finished before Christmas), and it turns out I did! I'm stilll not happy with the style I painted it in, but that's not how it'll be painted in the final film, so it's not a problem. I am however, happy with the colours. I think the exterior scenes are cold, and the interior ones are nice and cosy.

I used Paul Abadilla's lovely Color Script Exercise as a guide, and found it extremely helpful. You can find his here.

Aloha!

Well, this is my very first post! This is my humble wee blog, dedicated to documenting my 4th year at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, at which I study animation.

I’m directing 2 films at the moment. The first is a 2D production, with a team of 5, by the name of ‘Fearg Na Mara,’ (or ‘Wrath of the Sea,’ if you don’t speak Gaelic,) although to be honest, I’ll probably just refer to it as ‘Kelpies,’ 99% of the time. The film is set in the Highlands of Scotland, and is about a young boy who ventures out on the sea in his dinghy, and meets the Kelpies, mysterious horse-spirits of the water. This is my primary project, so most work that I post shall be from this production.

The second film is ‘Dancing Nina,’ co-directed by Slava Lawson. It’s inspired by the poem ‘Dancing Nina,’ by Halina Poswiatowska, and is a dance sequence, between a woman and her lost lover, with an unhappy ending. (find out more at dancingnina.blogspot.com)

As part of our brief this year, we’re to have 2 ‘specialisms,’ so as well as direction, I’ll also be doing character animation on both of these films, amongst other things.

I’ll be posting my work as much as I can, which will include work from both films, as well as life drawing and personal work.