I am going to design and develop a set of characters, to be featured in a potential upcoming feature-length independent animation. I will be assuming the role of character designer and creature designer for this project, as well as contributing some pieces of concept artwork to accompany it – may they be in the form of sketches, finished pieces, or potential advertisements (posters, fliers, online ads…).
The character and creature designs in particular, will be achieved via the use of traditional mediums such as pencil and ink, with the aid of computer editing afterwards. I am a much more skilled practitioner of traditional means, so I will use this to my advantage. The dramatic effect given from the marker pens will accompany the equally dramatic narrative for the film.
I will create roughly about five separate character designs, each depicting a member of the main cast of characters. These will each include one page of conceptual sketches, a page of notes on the character, and a following character sheet (which will be used for display purposes at the end of the project).
Following on for this project, I also hope to create a short teaser-trailer using some of the designs, in order to advertise myself and my homepage to any potential viewers.
The subject of the animation combines the two following themes: Rock music, and the notion of “Faust” (the concept of making a deal with the devil, for the price of one‘s soul). This is a long-standing project idea of mine, which I have always wanted to bring into fruition.
As it presently stands, the animation concept is called “Until Then” but it’s a working title.
The narrative, which accompanies the characters,
is as follows:
There has been rumor for many years of a wandering, opportunistic, corruptive presence, which will seek out a vessel in order to successfully create hell on earth. This evil presence, known to few as Mahael, has now, after countless years of searching, found the ideal vessel with which he can enact his plans of all out chaos and destruction.
Robert Johnson, otherwise known to his adoring fans and band mates as “Nash” (due to a love of Nashville-brewed whiskey) is the lead singer of the immensely popular rock / metal band “Crossroad”. He is recently stricken with grief, due to his fellow guitarist and best friend, Ed Crowley, being killed during an incident outside a venue.
During the American South leg of his most recent world tour, after the tragedy of his friend, he visits the crossroads made famous by the blues artist (who is also called) Robert Johnson. There, he meets Mahael, assuming he is not being serious, and jokingly makes a deal with the malicious spirit – and thus, our story begins.
Of course, no utter evil is without a force that seeks to diminish it. A strange, suited character that goes by the name of Brody Phelan begins to look into the ever-escalating situation – with full intent to stop “Nash” before it is too late.
Our main body of work this semester is going to be 3D modelling / stop motion animation, so I’m going to be doing research into several aspects of the artform, including artist research, animated feature research, and technique research. I think to start off with, I’ll have a look into the history of stop motion animation, and some of the pioneers of the industry.
Stop motion, sometimes known as stop action, is a form of animation technique that has increased vastly in popularity over the years since it was first used. The technique consists of photographed frames, that show a usually motionless object being moved slightly between each shot. They are then played in a sped up sequence, which shows the illusion of movement. One of the most popular variations of this is done using jointed puppets or clay models – the latter being much more widely known as “Clay-mation”. Stop motion is often confused with “Time-lapse” animation – which is actually a form of the practice in which photographs are taken of organic objects (plants, people, surroundings etc) over an extended period of time. This gives the illusion of sped up growth or decay, which can be very visually interesting.
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Stop motion has had a long standing presence in film and animation. It’s original intention was to show objects moving freely by themselves – as if by magic. The very first recorded use of stop motion in film, was in “The Humpty Dumpty Circus” (1897) by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton, which shows the little acrobat inhabitants of a toy circus coming to life. “Fun in a Bakery Shop” (1902) employed the stop-trick technique in the “Lightning Sculpting” sequence – a technique pioneered by director, actor, and magician: Georges Melies, who used it to create illusions and create moving title cards. His most notable use of this was in his short film “Le Diable Noir” (1905).
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Another incredibly successful creation from the mind of J. Stuart Blackton, was “The Haunted Hotel” (1907) which made use of stop motion in order to reinforce the notion that the building in the film is haunted. A film which mirrored this, was the Spanish film “El Hotel Electrico” (1908) by Segundo de Chomon, which has often been credited as one of the earliest films to use the “Pixellation” technique.
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In the same year, Billy Blitzer – who worked with American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.) released “A Sculptor’s Welsh Rarebit Nightmare”, as well as “The Sculptor’s Nightmare”.
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The Italian animator by the name of Romeo Bossetti, had phoenomenal success and impressed a wide range of audiences with his object animation piece “The Automatic Moving Company” (1912). The static camera movement coupled together with the narrative notion of efficiency with minimal labour, makes it very entertaining, and shows an impressive attention to detail being paid.
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Europe’s great breakthrough artist of the stop-motion style of animation, was Polish (also of Russian / French descent) artist Wladislaw Starewicz (1892 – 1965) who was most noted for his use of insects and animals in his films. This was mostly due to him being named the Director at The Museum of Natural History in Kovno, Lithuania – the free and ready access to various specimens allowed him to indulge in his chosen pastime / alternative career/ He directed hundreds of films throughout his career, some of his most well known and popular being: “The Beautiful Lukanida” (1910), “The Battle of the Stag Beetles” (1910) and “The Ant and the Grasshopper” (1911).
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One of the earliest known clay animations / clay-mation fims, was “Modelling Extraordinary” (1912). In December, 1916, Willie Hopkins released the first of what would end up being 54 episodes of “Miracles in Mud” to the big screen. Around the same time, the world’s first recognized female animator debuted, Helena Smith Dayton, with her adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1916 / 1917). In the turn of the century, there was another highly regarded animator by the name of Willis O’Brien (sometimes known as O’Bie). His most well known work on “The Lost World” (1925) and “King Kong” (1933) gained him unfathomable recognition and have to this day, been regarded as some of the milestones in stop-motion animation. They paved the way for new techniques, a wider exposure, and the notion of animation being used in a full-length feature film.
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Ray Harryhausen, perhaps the most influential and well known animator throughout the decades, created what is perhaps his most well known animation work, in “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958). One scene in particular, has cemented his place in history, and has become one of the most well known animated sequences of all time: “The Skeleton Fight Scene” – the models and styling of which, he would reuse in his equally as popular contribution to the film “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963). Harryhausen was one of the first people in animation to really put a massive amount of time, attention, and detail, into creating mechanical armatures to use in his models.
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Throughout the duration of the 1960’s and 1970’s, independant clay animator Eliot Noyes Jr. further refined the “free-form” clay anmation technique, with his film “Clay (or Origin of the Species” (1965) – which was an Oscar-nominated feature. His other incredibly popular stop motion musical film “Sandman” (1975) used a very unusual technique: using formations of sand on sheet glass to create an image. Here is an example of the technique which he used:
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In 1975, the worlds first Oscar-winning stop motion film was created by film-maker and clay animation experimenter Will Vinton, together with sculptor Bob Gardiner. The film was called “Closed Mondays” and was received by audiences with unparalleled success and gained a great amount of popularity.
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Many of Will Vinton’s following projects were nominated for a variety of acadmeny awards, those of which included “The Great Cognito”, “Creation” and “Rip Van Winkle”. He even made a documentary on the process and creation of his stop motion films and the clat technique he used, which he titled “Clay-mation” (1977). Since its release, the term “clay-mation” has become a widelty used piece of terminology in the animating field of work. The term itself, is still an owned trademark of Laika Enterntainment Inc.
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“The Sand Castle” (1977) was an Oscar-winning animation by Dutch-Canadian animator Co Hoedeman. It used a very unusual technique which involved sand-coating the puppets throughout the shots. In all, it is an incredibly decent, visually stimulating feature, which combines attention to detail and dedication to making an artistic vision come to life. Hoedeman, like many other Canadian animators around at the time, was sheltered by “The National Film Board of Canada” – a film arts agency funded and ran by the Canadian government that had supported numerous animators over the decades.
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One of the big names that fell beneath the “NFB” banner, include Norman McLaren, who made it possible for other multiple fledgeling animators to create their own creatively controlled animated films. One of these particular animators, was Jacques Drouin, who made a name for himself in the niche animation style and technique of using pin boards to create moving images. The original pin screen which he used in his early career, was donated to the “NFB” by Alexandre Alexeiff and Claire Parker: A well known Russian filmmaker and his American second wife, who are credited with inventing the pin screen, and the “totalization” animation technique. “Le Paysagiste” (1976) is a fine example of the pin board animation work which Jacques Drouin created during the 1970’s.
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Francesco Misseri, an Italian animator (who primarily worked in childrens television), created severeal stop motion films / series during the 1970’s, using interesting and unusual techniques. “Quac Quao” (1978), a childrens animated television series, used origami and paper-craft as its immediate artform.
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He made numerous free-form clay based animations for childrens television as well, such as “The Red and the Blue” (1976) and his much more internationally well known clay animation: “Mio and Mao” (1974 – 1976) – which was revived back in 2005 with new episodes, and is still continuing today.
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One of the main British animation teams: John Hardwick and Bob Bura, are responsible for animating many of the UK’s early childrens television programs that made use of stop-motion, including their most famous venture: “The Trumptonshire Trilogy” (1966 – 1969) which was written by Gordon Murray. It tells the tale of three fictional villages, and the interactions amongst their communities. Many original episodes have unfortunately been lost over the years, and much other original footage was subject to damage. For the series’ fortieth anniversary, the surviving footage from each series was remastered into a Special Edition DVD box set.
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Disney, whilst predominantly known for its hand-drawn animation, has also dabbled in stop-motion a few times over the years. Animators within the company experimented with several techniques throughout the 1970s. One notable animator from this period who was temporarily hired to work for Disney, was Mike Jittlov – a UCLA member who is most revered for his pixellation and rotoscope work. He was hired more specifically, to create a a stop-motion segment for the TV special: “Mickey’s 50th” (1978) entitled: “Mouse Mania”.
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He was once again commissioned by the company a year later, to create a promotional short for the film “The Black Hole” (1979). It was used in a Disney special aired on television, called “Major Effects”. His contribution to the feature, stood out as the best part of the special, and became just as / even more popular than his own personal film project “The Wizard of Speed and Time” (1979). This film was immensely popular, due to the use of pixellation and ludicrous impression of speed. I certainly enjoyed watching it!
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Many films in the early 80’s made use of the special effects company created by director George Lucas. “industrial Light Magic” otherwise known as “ILM” (A Lucasfilm Company), was formed by Lucas after finding out that the special effects department of “20th Century Fox” had been shut down, only having just been given the go ahead to use it for the production of the “Star Wars” films. There were plenty examples of the use of stop-motion with many of the machines and creatures that were present in the films, most notably the “AT-ATs” and “Tauntauns”.
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“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), as well as “Robocop” (1987) were both feature films worked on by talented animator Phil Tippett, and adopted the “Go-Motion” technique. The most prominent use of “Go-Motion” in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is seen in the ghost sequences – which are a combination of stop-motion and trick lighting. This effect is essentially stop-motion, but it uses a motion blur effect in order to make the animation appear to be much more realstic.
This was a revolutionary technique for large-scale films – ones which mostly consisted of filmed footage – as it led viewers to believe that the images they were seeing were physical objects, as opposed to moulded clay. Some fully stop-motion films still use this technique to create a sense of realism, and some don’t: all depending on the artistic direction of the piece.
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Interestingly enough, one of the most famous scenes in the “Indiana Jones” series – the “face-melting” scene, makes a strange yet effective use of stop-motion and special effects make-up. It resembles the “time-lapse” technique which was mentioned earlier in this post. It was also used in the popular horror film “Scanners” (1981), for the infamous “head-explosion” scene, which has since gained massive cult status.
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The 1980s saw animator Mark Chinoy create the first feature-length clay animation film (a television special released on cable tv). “I Go Pogo” (1980). It was based on a serial comic strip of the same name. It has as of yet, not been commercially released in any platform, but is widely available for viewing through the internet. The animators for this film actively encouraged the use of armatures for any walk cycles and body motions to those interested in the profession, and those who were already a part of it.
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During the ending sequence of “Terminator” (1984) stop-motion was adopted in order to give the injured robot a very mechanical looking sense of movement. The same goes for some of the mehcanical characters in the “Robocop” series, as previously mentioned. This surreal style of movement gives the viewer of the film a definite feeling of unease and in some cases: horror. James Cameron championed all types of special FX in his films, and this use of traditional animation balances out well with the rest of the visuals he chose.
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The same use of traditional stop-motion animation goes for the incredibly popular, almost “cult” status family sci-fi film by Steven Spielberg: “*Batteries Not Included” (1987). The little robots / flying saucers in this movie were animated by animator David W. Allen. Allen organised and participated in various events, some of which included veteran animator Ray Harryhausen, and a host of other well known animators. This collaboration between the famous director and the well-seasoned animator created a wonderful and endearing result.
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Other popular films in which so can see David W Allen’s work, include: “The Crater Lake Monster” (1977) – a horror B-movie, of which Allen was credited as being “the only good thing about this movie” by numerous critics, who panned the film as a whole. “Q / The Winged Serpent / Q – The Winged Serpent” (1982) followed this, and reaped much more success amongst fans and critics. Other films included “The Gate” (1986) and “Freaked” (1993). Allen’s 1970’s commercial for Volkswagen, which depicts the beast being fascinated by the car, and then driving away in it, has since become popular amongst model animation enthusiasts everywhere.
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Will Vinton and his team took up a highly ambitious project in the 80s, with “The Adventures of Mark Twain” (1986) – a biopic film based on the life and works of the notorious author. Whilst being made in an essentially child-orientated style of animation, it had a much more sophoisticated narrative and style, which found success with older audiences, and received rave reviews. Particularly popular amongst fans and animators alike, were the immensely detailed facial expressions on the puppets, and the amount of personality they each exuded.
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Vinton and his team were also commissioned by Disney, to help with work on the film “Return to Oz” (1985). Their job within the creation of this film, was on the character of the “Nome King”. For their work on this feature film, they won an Academy Award for “Special Visual Effects”. One scene in particular, really stands out in this film – the introduction of the “Nome King”. The use of insinuation and implication of faces being formed on the walls, shows a great amount of creative license, which ended up with a fantastic result.
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He was also well known for creating the famous campaign, and subsequent franchise, of “The California Raisins” (1986) – a fictional music group originally created for “The California Raisin Advisory Board” to promote the food stuffs. The first commercial they were featured in was entirely wordplay based, with the anthropomorphic raisins playing a rendition of “Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye. The ad itself became widely popular, and consecutive advertisements featured popular music artists such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson. The franchise was featured in a Christmas special: “Claymation Christmas Celebration” (1987) performing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. It was produced by Will Vinton, and went on to win an Emmy.
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Noteable, are a lot of the techniques used by Czech film maker Jan Svankmajer – which included interaction between stop motion characters and live action actors. These include “Alice” (1988), an adaptation of the popular set of stories by Lewis Carrol, (it used actors, puppets – and puppets made from animal skeletons) and “Faust” (1994) a mdoern rendition of the legend of the German scholar. Each film has an engrossed sense of artistic vision, and this strong sense of craft and artistry really makes viewers appreciate the amount of work and commitment it took to make these two films. The more popular of the two, is Alice, which has become an unbeatable favorite amongst Svankmejer enthusiasts.
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“Pat & Mat” (1979 – 2004) was an immensely popular series in multiple countries, created by Lubomir Benes – an animator, director, and author, who participated in several Annecy (France) events , and was most revered for his work on this series – and Vladimir Jiranek, illustrator, cartoonist and film director. It tells the story of two handymen (each episode in self-contained narratives) trying to solve problems using various tools and gadgets. According to both creators, “manual ineptitude” inspired the shows creation.
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Around the transition of time between the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was generally held as the era of “the animation renaissance” – spearheaded by the likes of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) which is revered as one of the best examples of rotoscoping, and “The Little Mermaid” (1989) which won multiple awards for both visual artistry and for its soundtrack. There has been an increasing number of stop-motion films since then – the genre gaining a new generation of fans since then, despite the advances in 3D film technology.
One prominent figure in modern stop-motion animation, is director, concept artist, and all around popular figure: Tim Burton. He has gained unparalleled success amongst young and old fans, and especially those with a penchant for gothic / horror / cult cinema. He started out as an animator for Disney, but soon gained recognition and was permitted to create his own feature projects.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) is his seminal work, being well known across the globe, and being recognised as a “modern classic”. It combines parody and macabre, and an incredibly interesting outlook upon the holidays of Halloween and Christmas. The character of “Jack Skellington” has since become a recognised symbol of both holidays amongst the western world – which just goes to show how appealing this film is to different people.
The visual style of the film combines stylised illustration, the macabre and gothic, and pop culture reference – which overall creates an appeal which speaks to illustrators, painters, horror and B-movie enthusiasts. Burton’s artistic style can immediately be recognised nowadays amongst fans and non-fans alike, and his art has become not only a pop culture symbol in itself, but also a cultural feature amongst “gothic” and “alternative” lifestyles. The film features references to the old horror movies, popular in the 50s and 60s, and the horror films of the early 1900s – most noticably in the “Nosferatu-esque” vampires which appear every now and again.
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The end of the 1990s saw Will Vinton (along with creator Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore and Steve Tompkins) created and released the very first stop-motion prime-time television series called “The PJs” (1999 – 2001). It depicted several characters who lived in a public housing project in Detroit, which once housed Diana Ross and Lily Tomlin. 42 Episodes aired during its three year run, each of which took a laborius two-month process. It received mixed reviews from various sources, some positive, and some negative. Spike Lee, for one example, accused the show of negatively portraying racial stereotypes. A gradual decline in ratings led to the shows cancellation in 2001.
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British animator Nick Park – most famous for his characters “Wallace & Gromit” (1989 – present) and work at Aardman, has made a name for himself with his approach towards animation. This series in particular, has become a household name in the UK. His animations are most revered for the sense of realism in the conversations and interactions between characters, best seen in his franchise “Creature Comforts” (1989 / 2003 – present). This show depicts various animals in an interview setting, stating their general opinions on various notions and subjects. The creators recorded conversations with the general public / willing participants, and afterwards chose the animals best suited to their voices and mannerisms.
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As well as winning a number of awards for his short series and featurettes, he has also in recent years won the “Academy Award for Best Animated Feature” for his feature-length outing: “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). The film featured an impressive voice-cast of well known actors, including: Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay and so on. The film was credited by the creators and fans as “The first vegetarian horror film”, and since then the tagline has stuck. It was just as popular with American audiences as his other feature-length stop-motion film: “Chicken Run” (2000). Based vaguely on “The Great Escape” (1963), it grossed over $100 million at the box office, and received critical acclaim.
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“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009), based on the popular childrens book by Roald Dahl, took around 2 years to create. It features a type of puppet which is often disused by animators and animation companies, due to the texture. The puppets in this film, you see, have fur stitched onto the body. For continuity purposes, this body type is often avoided by animators, as it creates a lack of consistency and a distraction for the viewers. With this film though, I thing it adds to the very home-made and old fashioned charm which it puts across. The voice cast for this film includes: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon and several other well known names.
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An Australian / Israeli film released through Regent, “$9.99” (2009) has been hailed as a critical success by viewers and film critics at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, 2008. It has won four awards in total, and was nominated for the “Annie Award” for “Best Animated Feature”. It tells the story of an unemployed man, Dave, who is searching for the meaning of life. Whilst browsing through a magazine one day, he sees a small add stating that he could find out the meaning of life for just $9.99. Fascinated by this, he starts his journey to Sydney in order to have his questions answered.
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Childrens television remains to be one of the most prominent platforms for stop-motion animation today, and in years gone by. The older generations of today were often raised on shows that took that approach. Such titles could include: “Gumby” (1955 – 1989), created by Art Clokey – creator of Christian childrens TV program “Davey and Goliath” (1960). The British equivalent of “Gumby” is considered “Morph” (1977) which essentially uses the same premise.
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Rankin / Bass is a very well known animation company, who have been making series and tv specials since the 1960s. Their material of choice for their models is wood. Most well known of all, are the numerous Christmas specials that they had produced for television. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964) originally aired on NBC, and has since been on the air every consecutive year since then, in many different countries – just like its equally as popular counterparts released around the same time: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965), “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1966) and “Frosty the Snowman” (1969).
The “Rudolph” animation still produces merchandise each holiday season – it still being a fan favorite. The other three, include “Santa Claus is coming to Town” (1970) and “The Year Without Santa” (1974), alongside “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” (1976).
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East German television saw the launch of “Sandmannchen” (1959) a childrens show which had Cold War propaganda as its primary function. It is also known as “Unser Sandmannchen / Das Sandmannchen / Abendgruß / Sandmann” (Little Sandman). It was based on the Hans Christian Andersen character: Ole Lukoje. New episodes are still currently being produced in Germany, but their intention and meaning has vastly changed from back in the 50s / 60s.
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“Paddington Bear” (1975) was another immensely popular childrens television series, still popular with older generations. It was produced by London-based animation company “FilmFair”. It culminated the combined use of 3D stop-motion models with 2D hand-drawn background images, background characters and props. Already a popular character in a number of childrens books, the television series soon gained a large fanbase and was viewed in homes all over the country.
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The French animator Serge Danot, in the 1960s, created the well-known and much loved series “The Magic Roundabout” (1965) which played for many years on the BBC. This has since gone onto produce various merchandising and even a Hollywood film (which in my opinion isn’t too brilliant – as it is in 3D). A popular French / Polish series which was created around the same time by Olga Pouchine and Tadeusz Wilkosz, was “Colargol” (1967). This series went under different titles in other countries, such as “Barnaby the Bear” in the UK and “Jeremy” in Canada.
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What is considered to be the most popular childrens television series of the 1960s, is “The Clangers” (1969 – 1972). The program was made up by Oliver Postgate (writer and narrator), the person who set up the company “Smallfilms”. The animation and models were crafted by Peter Firmin. Whilst he was the designer of the characters, his wife knitted and dressed them. The concept of “The Clangers” originated in a series of childrens books, (more specifically “Noggin and the Moon Mouse”) which in turn originated from another “Smallfilms” production: “Noggin the Nog” (1959 – 1965).
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“Pingu” (1986 – 1998) is a childrens program created by Otmar Gutmann (produced by “The Pygos Group” and “Trickfilmstudio”). It was originally created to be shown on Swiss television, but has since branched into other countries. It discards the use of actual language, and uses nonsensical babbling instead, in order to make the episodes more open to interpretation by a foreign audience. “Pingu” tells the story of a young penguin and his daily life, together with his family in their igloo home.
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In the 1990s, Trey Parker and Matt Stone created the very first, original “South Park” animated shorts using only construction paper on a flat surface. Together, the two films made were put together, and known widely as “The Spirit of Christmas” series. “Jesus vs. Frosty” (1992) was created as part of a University project during their time at the University of Colorado. After seeing this work by the two collaborating students, Brian Graden – a mutual friend and Fox Network executive – hired the two men to create an animated short to be sent out as a video Christmas card. “Jesus vs. Santa” (1995) was the end result. It was sent to friends and family, who in turn sent it to their friends – some of which shared it online – thus making it one of the first viral videos.
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One relatively new series which champions the use of stop-motion animation is “Robot Chicken” (2005 – present). It is created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, alongside co-writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Episodes are regularly aired on “Adult Swim” throughout the duration of a series – of which there have been 5 so far. It uses a combination of pop-culture reference, dark humour, and simply ludicrous situations to create an appeal with audiences. It has won an Annie Award and has been nominated for an Emmy Award. It is fast gaining a sort of “cult” status with fans, due to the repetetive use of action figures, and nonsensical parodies. Overall, I believe the use of stop-motion itself is where the main attraction lies with this series.
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There are of course, innumerable examples of amateur stop-motion animations on Youtube – both original and parodied. It’s a popular “Art-form” amongst young people experimenting with it for either a hobby or as an aspirational pursuit. Whilst some appear to be unsiccessful, many exemplify the application of proper technique and attention to detail. Many formats are being used, such as pixellation, papercraft, and one of the most popular formats: Lego stop-motion.
One of my favorite videos of this “genre” – one which displays an ineffable amount of skill and artistic discipline, is the infamous “Lego Black Ops” (2010) video. It combines innovative use of a camera (a P.O.V camera style usually used in FPS style gaming) and hilarious narrative to accompany it. It also makes use of the motion blur technique I have mentioned above. It is definitely a must see for lego and “Black Ops” fans everywhere. This video has earned its title as a viral success!
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In all, this retrospective through the life and development of stop-motion has really opened my mind up to a lot of new things. For one thing, I now know that there is more to stop-motion than Ray Harryhusen (I was previously convinced that he was the first person to make it a big feature in motion pictures!). For another thing, I have been able to watch through and appreciate the techniques in countless videos, and have discovered some fantastic animators and series in turn.
It has given me the inspiration to experiment a lot more with my own animations. One style I particularly want to try out next is the trick camera technique discovered by Georges Melies, of whom I am a massive fan. Whilst I am not incredibly skilled with the use of armatures, I want to try and create more and develop my skills regardless. I might even have to break out all of my old Lego collections and try out some Lego animation as well.
Stop-motion has a rich and colourful history – it being the source of wonder and enchantment in thousands of audiences, and becoming well known household names all over the globe. It has featured in some of the most well known motion pictures of all time, and has undoubtedly managed to charm people – generation after generation…and for generations to come!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my look at this fascinating and incredibly fun art-form!
Recently, I’ve come across perhaps one of the most brilliant artists that is around today. This is an artist with an absolutely lush style, which describe as a mixture of sailor tattoo, New Orleans, Fleischer Studios, whiskey bottle, old school animation, ink and a little bit of pure genius.
Mcbess (Matthieu Bessudo), born 5th of July 1884, is a French illustrator and animator living in London. He is also well known for being in the band: Dead Pirates, for which he has animated several videos. He was born in Cannes and raised Auribeau-sur-Siagne. He is the son of a satellite designer (his father) and a primary school teacher (his mother). He has always been incredibly fond of music, starting off with studying the drums for 8 years before turning to the guitar. After studying his A-levels in Cannes, he started attending the renowned multimedia school Supinfocom on Arles. There, he did a 4 year 3D Animation course. His illustration style, which was still in development during that time, was much more colourful and a lot less structured. He joined several boards of illustration over the internet too, such at Eatpoo and CafeSale, and started building up a professional reputation from there. His artist name “Mcbess” was actually given to him by a classmate in order to diferentiate between him and another Matt in the class.
He graduated from Supinfocom in 2006, with a collaborative short film: “Sigg Jones”, that he made with his friends Douglas Lassance, and Jonathan Vuillemin. It is an animated short about a superstar and his agent. It was originally called Bob Sapp, in reference to the Ultimate Fighter, but sadly a copyright issue and a bit of a disagreement meant that the creators had to come up with an alternative title – it has also been put into question for its featuring of brand name shoes. So, Douglass Lassance came up weith the title “Sigg Jones” whilst brushing his teeth one day. Since its release, “Sigg Jones” has become a highly valuable reference source for 3D animation, due to both its contemporary design and artistic style.
After graduating from University, each member of the trio that worked on that animated short became individually hired as directors by “The Mill”: a London-based Oscar-winning VFX company. During this time, Mcbess also started trying out new styles and directions with his personal artwork. His illustration “My Desk” paved the way through to his new-found popularity and high demand, the picture itself combining the cartoon influences of Betty Boop, Merrie Melodies, as well as a massive presence of surrealism and a wonderful use of black and grey toning.
Now, since 2007, he has gained a mass following in the art industry, and has been featured in several distinguished illustration publications such as Juxtapoz, Illustrated Ape, and Hi-Fructrose. He has a very close working relationship with Nobrow in London, UK, and Rotopol Press in Kassel, Germany, who exclusively print his drawings after hosting an exhibition about him back in 2008. He has been featured in exhibitions all over the world now, in places such as London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Los AngelesNew York and Chicago.
Following on with his life-long love of music, he has played in several bands over the years. For example, he used to be the drummer for a local band in Cannes called Diztrait. Recently, Mcbess teamed up with his friend Simon Landrein from The Mill, and created the music video “Wood (Dirty Melody)” for his increasingly popular band “Dead Pirates”. The video has reached phoenomenal success after being viewed across the internet, after being featured in Wired and Motionographer – a popular 3D blog.
He was commissioned by Nissan to animate for the QASHQAI campaign, with some help from Ugo Gattoni, which was directed by Pleix. The advert shows the car driving through an urban setting, and the graffiti on the surrounding walls coming to life behind it and following in a mad frenzy. It is an impressive mix of interaction and artistic flare – and it also showcases some of Mcbess’ lesser / seldom seen colour work.
Finally, here are two videos displaying Mcbess’ outlook on the illustration industry – which features some fantastic commentary and observations – and a showreel depicting some of his work from around 2007. Please check out more of the videos on his channel, and of course his official webpage too – where you can keep up to date with any activities and of course his blog: http://mcbess.com/
In todays Craft & Media Technology seminar we were set the task of researching a few examples on stings and advertisements for our ideal area of work…so in my case: Animation. The first example of a successful sting that we were given was the “Mutant Enemy” sting that features at the end of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. It was originally created as a last minute, quick and simple project – so the creator decided to go all out on the simplicity and just use a cardboard cut-out character bobbing up and down – the the sound of his own voice. Here, are some variations of the final sequence – including holiday specials and alternate animations.
Simon Tofield – the creator of Simon’s Cat, made an advert / sting which made a very brief appearance on U.K. television back in November of 2010. It was made as a promotional animation for his new book at the time: Beyond the Fence. It features the main character of the cat jumping over several fences (similar to the style of the fence sequence featured in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead) and doing different activities – which are hinted at – in the neighbors yards.
One of the most impressive movie company stings that I have seen over the years is the animated sequence used for “Scott Free”: The partnership company of director Ridley Scott and his brother. They commissioned animator Gianluigi Toccafondo to create the sequence after they had worked together on creating the opening title sequence for “Robin Hood” (which featured an incredibly iumpressive use of Rotoscoping). The effect of oil painting not only creates a very emotive image, but also a sense of texture and artistry which has not been matched since, in my personal opinion. It is seriously impressive how the animator must’ve created so many individual frames to complete these sequences. The amount of work and dedication that has gone into finishing this project is definitely admirable. Truth be told, I am incredibly jealous – he has the fortitude which I do not!
Repeating movie titles at the end of a film nowadays is a very common practice – for some reason, which I can’t really give a decent reason for, it seems to make the ending of a film just a little bit more epic. Even if it just the exact same animated title sequence that was at the beginning, it still maintains a sense of excitement and awe within the audience. Either way, whether it’s a varitaion of the opening or not, it is an effective device in a films appeal. They are generally the same ones that are used in the trailer advertising the film in cinemas and on television. It’s especially a popular thing to do in a lot of action / adventure / fantasy films, and is usually accompanied by a loud soundtrack which immediately emphasises the dramatic atmosphere of the rest of the film. Here, I found a brilliant video that someone had put together on Youtube, which shows 158 end title sequences from films of the last five or six years. A lot of then use a dramatic font – or one which aptly represents the theme of the rest of the film (Transformers, and Pirates of the Caribbean, for example). This is actually a very entertaining video to look through!
Considering film titles and opening sequences and advertisements, there are also the company stings and logos which feature in openings, endings and trailers. Whilst some companies have very simple, straight forward, hardly animated stings, others rely on animation, movement, and sound, in order to make them memorable. It is also interesting to see when companies do variations of stings, depending on the theme and setting of a film that they are inv0lved with…for instance, the Tristar logo seen in the opening of the Richard Attenborough film: Chaplin. Whilst it is regularly either just the straightforward logo, or the generally associated pegasus mascot, in this film it is made to look like it is being projected by an old film reel – like the ones featured in the film.
There is an updated version of the logo sequence, (Columbia Tristar Pictures) that has started appearing in a lot of films. The graphics and animations are essentially much more visually interesting, and the colour scheme is a lot brighter and more eye catching. It features the pegasus, as well as the liberty statue-esque woman of “Columbia”. The art style of the images is incredibly detailed, and remeniscent of pre-raphaelite paintings. This aesthetic gives viewers a sense that the film will be of a much more decent quality, as opposed to if the logos were in a very cartoony style.
Gobelins L’Ecole de L’mage (Goblins School of the Image) is a well known and very respected visual arts school in Paris, which is most well known amongst the internet for the stunning animations that its students produce. It has produced numerous, incredibly talented individuals which have found their place within studios as prestigious as Diney, Hannah Barbera, Pixar, Dreamworks, and Warner Bros. The animation students at the school are regularly given briefs of various thenes abd stings – which in turn, churn out some impressive results. They are taught to use a range of different methods – both traditional and computer animated – and how to combine those methods in order to create an amazing visual piece. Here are a few examples of what the students produced for some projects a few years ago: “Prix Goncourt des Lyceens 2010” and “Annecy 2010”.
An absolutely fantastic website which I have been introduced to in today’s session is: http://www.artofthetitle.com/. It is an entire website packed full of articles about diferent title sequences from television and film, about the production, history, and creators of a sequence. It also shows variations between the original title drafts (pilot episodes for cartoons, for example) and running opening sequences that accompany a series. It displays concept art, title cards, and anecdotes by the creators of some of the titles – which is absolutely fascinating. There are thousands of animatics included as well as examples of the concept artwork! This is definitely a website I will be consulting throughout this “Sting” creation project, as it is an unimaginably valuable source of information and inspiration. One of my favorite articles from the site is the “Adventure Time” article (mostly because it is one of my favorite cartoons at the moment!): http://www.artofthetitle.com/2010/10/12/adventure-time/.
I think that I’ll keep referring back to this article whilst this project goes on. We have been told to create a short sting and a longer sting that advertises ourselves, and the area of practice that we ideally want to go into after university. Mine is going to be a mix up of animation, illustration and character design…so who knows? If I get the chance, I might even make a few – one for each! There’s going to be a fair amount of work going into this project. I’m going to be working quite hard on this, especially after coming across the “Art of the Title” website I mentioned above. I reckon that I’m going to do a few storyboards, tests and animatics before deciding on a final concept to spruce up and make pretty, haha! Wish me luck!
This animation, out of all of the others that I’ve made so far, is my pride and joy. I put the most time and effort into this one. You know when you get an idea, and you just don’t want to stop until you’ve made it come to life? I was really, really passionate about this project, not only because I got the chance to showcase one of my characters (Bearscak), but I also got to play about with a little bit of dark humor and make something amusing. When we were originally given the two starting points for adverts, I had real trouble with coming up with something for this concept. Then, suddenly: BAM! Inspiration hit, and I worked like an absolute machine until I had finished it to my liking. I think when I get some free time I’ll try to do an exerpt of it in colour for a show reel.
The snowball sequence actually took about 80+ individual drawings to make it happen. Speeding it up, and having it only last a few seconds, was initially a bit heart breaking…but nontheless, it came out looking pretty good. As for the voice over, that was all done by me. I know, it was atrocious, and the synching didn’t quite work, but at least I got the childrens personalities across in each scene. I’m thinking of making the first little child a recurring character in future animated short films featuring Bearscak.
This project has definitely been fun and stressful throughout production. There were moments I had drawn up about ten frames and had only then come to realise that I had made vital continuity errors…so I had to redraw several of them several times, which was an absolute nightmare. Scanning each individual frame in took about two days. Animating it took a whole day, and an all nighter. I use a really dated program to scan and edit my images in (Paintshop Pro 8), but that’s because its a program that I’m comfortable with. My mum helped me with choosing the background music for this – she is completely nuts about Christmas (Now I know where I get it from!).
I showed this to the man behind the bear-suit himself, and I got his approval on it, so in all: a job well done, I think!
AbbieSTABBY 