Task :
“Study emotion through body language and produce a short animation with an emotional reaction to a cube/cone/sphere or cylinder with the provided WormBlob.ma character rig.
Each group is to concept a shared theme, with group members producing their own animations based on the group research and chosen emotion.
Explore using principles of animation through designing simple thumbnail drawings and then onto blocking key & in-between poses. using maya stepped tangent animation throughout this project, also consider moving holds, and timing/spacing of the animation after the initial key blocking stage.
See Keith Lango & Jesse Baumgartner for reference & further research.
This maya animation can be presented as a playblast .mov file.”
Citation:
Parkin, A. (2014). Design Discourse One Assignments. Available: http://www.animationbelfast.com/design-discourse-one-assignments/. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014.
Emotion:
My group chose to convey the emotion of anger, and we decided that the slug should attack one of the shapes in a fit of rage. Then we individually chose how we would animate the attack, and then showed one another the results.
Take 1
This was my first attempt at blocking out the slug animation. Watching it back, it is hard for the audience to tell what is supposed to be occurring. It appears as though the slug randomly jumps on top of the cube for no reason, you are unable to discern any emotion from its’ action.
There is no foreshadowing of what the slug is about to do (in other words there is no anticipation) and this is what makes the jumping action so jarring, the fact that it appears to abruptly jump without any sense of weight.
The camera angle also wasn’t helpful as the slug’s “face” is obscured from view, so it gives little indication as to it’s plans. There is also an issue with the jump itself, as the slug’s journey through the air seems somewhat uncomfortable to watch for whatever reason. It simply doesn’t feel right to me, however on a positive not, I like how the slug grips onto the cube when it lands.
The main issues, here, are; lack of story, no sense of anticipation, no sense of weight and camera angle.
Take 2
For this second take… well, things went wrong.
This time the slug ended up going through the cube, and they didn’t fall at the same time.
The jumping action seemed to go better in my opinion, and I tried to make it look as though the slug struggled when it was squashed but it appeared to all transpire to quickly.
The main issues, here, are; lack of story (again), no sense of anticipation (again), the Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) ability of the slug, and camera angle (again!).
However, I was getting a better feel for the blocking process despite the frustrating results that I was experiencing.
Take 3
This was probably the best blocked version I created. Whilst there wasn’t much sense of anticipation, and the camera angle issue still wasn’t rectified, I felt that the overlapping motion of the cube and slug falling had become more realistic. That being said, there is still something off when the slug initially makes contact with the cube, but the slug clinging on still has a nice feel to it.
In all three versions I did attempt anticipation- when you see the slug raise its head- although it isn’t sufficient to create the sense of something about to happen, or convey the anger of the slug.
Video link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYJT3zawuY
Animation Talk-ation 