- Animating Water / Steam
- Animating a Fan / Rotating Blades
- Achieving the Correct Lighting
- Gathering / Creating Props
- Audio
- Generating Fog / Weather
- Mechanical Movement
- Organic Movement
- Establishing Dramatic Camera Angles
- Learning / Working with New Software
- Falling Objects / Representing Gravity
Animating Water / Steam
Because I will be creating a stop motion animation, substances like water and steam, or fog and mist can prove to be very difficult to animate, without making them look unrealistic. The way stop motion of animation is created is by moving stationary models and taking a frame every time you move the model, because of the random nature of water and steam for example and the way it behaves, it would be nearly impossible to use actual water and steam in a stop motion animation. I have thought of some alternatives if I do want to include these substances in the final animation. Firstly, the easy route is to use a software such as After Effects and simulate the steam or mist that way, essentially via the post production process. However, one way it could be done is by using a clear material such as glass, or a transparent acrylic for example and painting on the steam as it develops, I could either do this whilst I'm shooting the frames, or make it separately and import it afterwards, although it would remove an extra process if I were to do it in the actual set to start with. When it comes to water, things such as a clear thick hair gel or substitute can work well at becoming water, other materials such as cling film or bubble wrap may also prove to be sufficient at emulating water in a stop motion animation.
Animating a Fan / Rotating Objects
When it comes to the complex problem of introducing rotating objects into the animation, I think the best option for me is to create one using After Effects again in the post production stage. This would save any problems I would encounter for animating it by hand from happening, and allow for me to concentrate on other parts of the movement within scenes, aside from the rotation of the blades. This way, I can also incorporate motion blur and add a realistic dynamic to the scene through this. I found a video tutorial explaining the process to do this including camera tracking, so it shouldn't be a problem to add to the animation once everything is filmed.
Achieving the Correct Lighting
In order to make sure the lighting is correct and projects the correct mood into the scene I will have to experiment with the knowledge I have over lighting and do some tests before I shoot. I will however be using several light sources, acting as natural light through windows of the set and then synthetic sources from within the set, such as a monitor or a lamp for example. One thing I want to make sure doesn't happen is that the light makes the character appear 'shiny' due to the paint I will use to paint him with. In order to do this, light sources must be properly defused so they aren't intense and overwhelming. If after the animation has been shot I feel that the light could be adjusted, I can always add tints or change the level in After Effects.
Gathering / Creating Props
Some of the props and furniture for the animation will be made by hand, and others purchased from online. I will probably make things like the book case and windows, and scientific diagrams and papers etc will be easy to produce by hand, other than this, I will purchase more complex items such as lab equipment and chairs or tables from on sites such as eBay. When it comes to adding clothing to my character, I will try my best to make it by hand, fixing wire in between layers of the material so it is easy to move and manipulate when it comes to animating it. I plan to buy things like boots however from eBay, since they would be quite difficult to make with the detail I want them to have. Finally, several prop ideas will be computer generated in post production software such as After Effects, this includes perhaps a ceiling fan, a monitor or perhaps a light source.
Audio
When I first envisioned the final piece I had the idea of very jarring, almost folk, string music. I decided I didn't want to have an sound from the on screen actions and use purely a piece of music over the top whilst the action takes place. I didn't think that producing sound for the action would work, also because the vignette style of the action and transitions would make it feel very clunky and not well put together. So I'm going for a montage type feel to the title sequence. Luckily, for a recent project a friend of mine gave me a few sound files that he made that he said I could use for anything I needed. One of them in particular is a slower more emotive string piece that I could use as the music I overlay for this particular piece, and that's probably what I will do.
Generating Fog / Weather
Like I mentioned about steam, I will probably use CG effects for things like steam to save time and keep the overall project under a certain level of complexity so I don't risk not meeting the deadline. This will still give it a good atmosphere and level of detail, just without certain hand made touch. In terms of weather, After Effects has simulation features dedicated to snow, wind and rain etc. So there is no problem there when it comes to incorporating some weather effects if I feel they need them.
Mechanical Movement
This is just an idea for now, and I'm considering the idea of mechanical movement and how I will approach it in case later in the development stage I do actually want to feature some machinery moving for example. I have researched into certain methods of stop motion animation, and feel the use of wire supports would be useful here to create smooth, automated looking movement. The wires or supports can later be removed using Photoshop.
Organic Movement
I want to make the movement of the main character as realistic and convincing as possible. He is after all a human character and despite the use of stop motion, I do want his movement to be quite subtle and not feel robotic. To ensure this, I may have to do some tests with the model and look specifically how characters move in other stop motion animation pieces, and how people move in real life also.
Establishing Dramatic Camera Angles
I have certain camera angles planned in my head and on a storyboard. I want to use dynamic and interesting camera angles for the action to be displayed under. This relates back to the idea of creating a montage made up of vignettes for the sequence. I want the action to be interesting and the camera angles to tie together well despite being quite different, this may need some careful thought to ensure that the scenes fit together in an appealing order. The main thing here is to use an appropriate amount of variation. I do want to include some over head shots, as well as close ups and panning shots in order to display the action in an interesting and well thought out manner.
Learning / Working with New Software
- AutoCAD
- Ethos
- Dragon Frame
- Maya
- After Effects
- Audacity
- Premiere Pro
Falling Objects / Representing Gravity
One thing that crossed my mind that I may need to understand in case I want to use any objects falling or representing gravity in the stop motion feature is how will I do it. Essentially after doing some research into some 'making of' videos, focusing on stop motion animation pieces it seems that various supports is the answer. I've seen different animators use wire or plasticine for example to support objects as they move, and are then removed frame by frame in software such as Photoshop afterwards. This isn't necessarily a difficult thing to do if you plan it correctly, it is however, very time consuming.
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