I have changed my list of ideas as I kind of fell out with my Bikers idea. My favourites at the moment are Ideas 2 and 4, mainly because of them being my ideas. Idea 3 feels like its missing something and needs work. Idea 1 is at the bottom at the moment because its already been done but I'm keeping it in my options as I love the stories and like the idea of making one in my own style.
IDEA 1
A Just So Stories remake.
IDEA 2
A hungry cat short like my idea in first year about 'The Fish Shop Cat'
IDEA 3
Get rid of it! The one about Matt putting a spider out and then him having a nasty surprise and wanting something put out himself.
IDEA 4
Pretty morphing Animation.
Friday, 21 August 2009
It's hot in Topeka
I first saw this clip from 'Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends' at Siggraph 08. It really made me and the rest of the lecture hall laugh and I love the character as he's so lively, jumpy and odd. I love the style of animation too as it really works well with the style of story. I would consider doing this style if I did my 'Get Rid of it' idea.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Room design
Just a quick design for a possible bedroom background. The angle of the bed is wrong so next time I will do a light outline of the room.
Life Drawings
Here are some Life Drawings of my Bengal kitten, Remus to help me with designing my cat character. I love how Bengals have a wild look about them because they have Asian Leopard Cats in their ancestry. Remus is about 5 generations from one. Because of this I am considering having the cat in my short be a Bengal.
Here are some photos of Remus to compare my drawings to :)
Here are some photos of Remus to compare my drawings to :)
Friday, 14 August 2009
Get rid of it storyboard
This is a quick thumbnail storyboard I did for my idea called 'Get rid of it'. Sorry if my writings hard to read. Its only the first part of it but its just to help me decide on which of my ideas to do.You can click on the image to see a bigger version.
Some sketches that I promised
This is a drawing I did for the morphing idea. Its the first part where the girl is sitting thinking and about to turn her head to look out the window.I made her look young and in an uncomfortable position to show how uncomfortable she is with herself and to try and emphasise how she wants to be free. I don't know if I explained that right but it makes sense to me :p
I am not happy with how I drew her fingers or her feet and I think the angles are off so I will have to work on that.
These cats were for any of my ideas involving a cat really. The top cat was based on this fluffy black and white cat that keeps trying to sneak in my house. I sat in the garden drawing it as she went around me and kept trying to nuzzle into me. I had another go making her look thinner below it but I'm just not feeling it. Like somethings wrong with it but I don't know what. Maybe the eyes.The spotted cat is a bengal based on my kitten, Remus. Its my favourite of all the drawings. I did it as Remus looks all proud like this when he takes his toys off the sofa.
The bottom cat is based on the normal domestic cats that roam around my garden. I also really like these drawings as they are simple but look right. I am also a fan of just dot for eyes so thats another reason why I like them more.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
The Missing Lynx
I came across this article on Kandor Moon's 'The Missing Lynx'. The link to the article is below. I thought it might help me with my project.
The Missing Lynx
The Missing Lynx
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Idea - Possible pretty animation
I couldn't sleep last night so was sleepily trying to think of more ideas. I looked out the window and suddenly my mums cat jumped up. This made me come up with a little idea.
A person could be curled up looking out a window and suddenly a bird flies by. The person watches it and then the camera follows the bird, sometimes looking as if the bird as well. I imagined leaves flying around too a bit like in the Disney's Pocahontas. It then flies towards the floor as if to land and turns into a cat. It then follows the cat with the same kind of feel. It then changes into various animals experiancing their lives. It then could come back to the person at the window and a tear drops followed to the floor and the person could be in a prison or in a wheelchair or something like that to show how they cant do those things.
I imagined painting backgrounds sort of like the russian dog animation I posted earlier but then have the animals in 3D but maybe distort them a bit after. Like animate them and then do a painted type effect in after effects or photoshop after. Might make it look really unusual and new and maybe a bit weird.
I thought I could do a lot of experiments with it too. Like when the animals change they could transform or maybe change in a puff of smoke or you could just see the shadows change.
A person could be curled up looking out a window and suddenly a bird flies by. The person watches it and then the camera follows the bird, sometimes looking as if the bird as well. I imagined leaves flying around too a bit like in the Disney's Pocahontas. It then flies towards the floor as if to land and turns into a cat. It then follows the cat with the same kind of feel. It then changes into various animals experiancing their lives. It then could come back to the person at the window and a tear drops followed to the floor and the person could be in a prison or in a wheelchair or something like that to show how they cant do those things.
I imagined painting backgrounds sort of like the russian dog animation I posted earlier but then have the animals in 3D but maybe distort them a bit after. Like animate them and then do a painted type effect in after effects or photoshop after. Might make it look really unusual and new and maybe a bit weird.
I thought I could do a lot of experiments with it too. Like when the animals change they could transform or maybe change in a puff of smoke or you could just see the shadows change.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Ideas so far
IDEA 1
A Just So Stories remake.
IDEA 2
A hungry cat short like my idea in first year about 'The Fish Shop Cat'
IDEA 3
The Bikers. An animation mainly about 3 bikers with a South Park type of rude humour and short commical moments.
IDEA 4
Get rid of it! The one about Matt putting a spider out and then him having a nasty surprise and wanting something put out himself.
A Just So Stories remake.
IDEA 2
A hungry cat short like my idea in first year about 'The Fish Shop Cat'
IDEA 3
The Bikers. An animation mainly about 3 bikers with a South Park type of rude humour and short commical moments.
IDEA 4
Get rid of it! The one about Matt putting a spider out and then him having a nasty surprise and wanting something put out himself.
Oh another idea - Get rid of it!
I live with a guy called Matt and he is forever getting rid of spiders for me. So it could start with me screaming and runs in. Theres a giant spider at the top of the stairs. He then slumps back to the kitchen and grabs a glass and puts it out.
(This happened the other day).
Matt walks into the hall and makes a gasp. I turn and look and hes just pointing at the top of the stairs. I panic and tell him oh my god theres another huge spider get rid of it.etc. He just starts saying making noises and telling me to look theres something there. I daren't move to look just incase its a nasty trick.
Suddenly I hear small taps down the stairs and shuffle back on the sofa further away. Suddenly a little cats head pops round the wall and meows (its a local cat that likes to sneak into our house when our backs are turned). I relax and zoom forward to stroke it and matt cowers away. The cat moves to him, arches its back and meows. He shouts and begs me to remove it, i'm too buys laughing so he attempts to get it outside by telling it and it just comes more in the room, he runs outside and calls, it comes but stops in the door so hes now outside and the cats in the doorway. He then comes back with the cat following and threatens to never remove spiders again if I don't remove the cat so I do.
I thought that if I cut bits out and change a few things it would be a great litle short. Its got few characters, comedy, is short and would be fun to make.
(This happened the other day).
Matt walks into the hall and makes a gasp. I turn and look and hes just pointing at the top of the stairs. I panic and tell him oh my god theres another huge spider get rid of it.etc. He just starts saying making noises and telling me to look theres something there. I daren't move to look just incase its a nasty trick.
Suddenly I hear small taps down the stairs and shuffle back on the sofa further away. Suddenly a little cats head pops round the wall and meows (its a local cat that likes to sneak into our house when our backs are turned). I relax and zoom forward to stroke it and matt cowers away. The cat moves to him, arches its back and meows. He shouts and begs me to remove it, i'm too buys laughing so he attempts to get it outside by telling it and it just comes more in the room, he runs outside and calls, it comes but stops in the door so hes now outside and the cats in the doorway. He then comes back with the cat following and threatens to never remove spiders again if I don't remove the cat so I do.
I thought that if I cut bits out and change a few things it would be a great litle short. Its got few characters, comedy, is short and would be fun to make.
Another short I like - Daphne's New Broom
I found this a while ago and saved it. It's by an Animation Mentor student. They really do come out of that course with some fantastic animations! I especially like the humour and animation.
Idea based on a dream - The Bikers
I had a dream the other night that was set like an animated series. It had a very south park feel and even had titles!
It was called 'The Bikers' and the characters looked like a mix of my original sprite of Matt mixed with the south park characters. It started with 3 guys who were my mates, Matt, Chris and Dan. They were talking about some random stuff about bikes and girls when suddenly Gwil walks in and they offend him loads with welsh jokes and stuff. My memory goes foggy then and I can't remember what happened next but I remember a bit further on where the 3 blokes are walking to town. On the way Dan really needs the loo but are no where near any so he hangs his bum off a bridge while the others hold his legs. It then cut to Ben who was kayaking down the river below, whistling to himself. Suddenly there is a groan and ben looks up and then splat.
Thats all I can remember but I woke up giggling to myself for quite a while.
I just liked the south park feel, mixed with bikers, comedy and rudeness. Yeah, I can be a bit imature even in my dreams. I thought that I could tinker with my dream and make it into a short film. Thats why I thought I should put it on here so I won't totally forget about it and can think about it. Possibly ad ideas to it.
It was called 'The Bikers' and the characters looked like a mix of my original sprite of Matt mixed with the south park characters. It started with 3 guys who were my mates, Matt, Chris and Dan. They were talking about some random stuff about bikes and girls when suddenly Gwil walks in and they offend him loads with welsh jokes and stuff. My memory goes foggy then and I can't remember what happened next but I remember a bit further on where the 3 blokes are walking to town. On the way Dan really needs the loo but are no where near any so he hangs his bum off a bridge while the others hold his legs. It then cut to Ben who was kayaking down the river below, whistling to himself. Suddenly there is a groan and ben looks up and then splat.
Thats all I can remember but I woke up giggling to myself for quite a while.
I just liked the south park feel, mixed with bikers, comedy and rudeness. Yeah, I can be a bit imature even in my dreams. I thought that I could tinker with my dream and make it into a short film. Thats why I thought I should put it on here so I won't totally forget about it and can think about it. Possibly ad ideas to it.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Cat Animations
Here are some shorts I found that can inspire me and give me some ideas.
This is a funny story done in 3D. I think if I went the 3D route I'd go for a style like this as everything is reletivly simple so the animation and the story are more the main focus.
This is a really nice little animation made by an Animation Mentor student and I love the characters and its a funny story. The style is very much like mine and I'd love to do something like it. The story is simple but funny. Another thing I'm interested in doing!
This is a stop motion animation about a fat persian cat who tries to catch a bird but it all goes wrong. Its well done and a nice story, it also reminds me of the new Fantastic Mr Fox film. I'm not personally a fan of stop frame animation so its highly unlikely that I'd go down this path.
This is an old MGM cartoon. It's the kind of animation I watched as a child and grew up loving. It's a nice style and funny. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the fact the animals talk. I'd prefer to do a no talking short, just music or background noise.
A very odd animation in a Japanese style. I like odd and weird so maybe a story like this would be good. There are some wonderful shots especially the bit at 0:14 and 0:49. Its mainly based on souls as Nyātta, an anthropomorphic kitten, travels to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.
The 13th Kitten is set during Halloween and the Queen Witch is plotting to stop time and rule the world forever. She has 13 newts, 13 toads and 12 kittens. So with the help of her army of Karate Witches they set out to capture the 13th kitten and complete the spell. But the kittens mother and her pumpkin friends race to try and save the day. Sounds a bit corny but I like it for how it looks visually. I especially like how the cats looks although the animation doesn't look perfect.
This animation is a re-imagining of a Russian folk tale about a hen who layed a golden egg. It's a nice story although a little sad. I particually like the way it looks cartoony 3D. I'd consider doing this for the background of my animation as I think it could work with quite a few different styles. Possibly have this style as the background and a style like the cats from the 13th kitten.
A very simple animation but it works. The kitten is actually just an extra in this episode as this has been made as a series like the ‘Simon’s Cat’ episodes. I believe for this to work I'd need a strong story though.
This is a funny story done in 3D. I think if I went the 3D route I'd go for a style like this as everything is reletivly simple so the animation and the story are more the main focus.
This is a really nice little animation made by an Animation Mentor student and I love the characters and its a funny story. The style is very much like mine and I'd love to do something like it. The story is simple but funny. Another thing I'm interested in doing!
This is a stop motion animation about a fat persian cat who tries to catch a bird but it all goes wrong. Its well done and a nice story, it also reminds me of the new Fantastic Mr Fox film. I'm not personally a fan of stop frame animation so its highly unlikely that I'd go down this path.
This is an old MGM cartoon. It's the kind of animation I watched as a child and grew up loving. It's a nice style and funny. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the fact the animals talk. I'd prefer to do a no talking short, just music or background noise.
A very odd animation in a Japanese style. I like odd and weird so maybe a story like this would be good. There are some wonderful shots especially the bit at 0:14 and 0:49. Its mainly based on souls as Nyātta, an anthropomorphic kitten, travels to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.
The 13th Kitten is set during Halloween and the Queen Witch is plotting to stop time and rule the world forever. She has 13 newts, 13 toads and 12 kittens. So with the help of her army of Karate Witches they set out to capture the 13th kitten and complete the spell. But the kittens mother and her pumpkin friends race to try and save the day. Sounds a bit corny but I like it for how it looks visually. I especially like how the cats looks although the animation doesn't look perfect.
This animation is a re-imagining of a Russian folk tale about a hen who layed a golden egg. It's a nice story although a little sad. I particually like the way it looks cartoony 3D. I'd consider doing this for the background of my animation as I think it could work with quite a few different styles. Possibly have this style as the background and a style like the cats from the 13th kitten.
A very simple animation but it works. The kitten is actually just an extra in this episode as this has been made as a series like the ‘Simon’s Cat’ episodes. I believe for this to work I'd need a strong story though.
Idea - Cat , The Fish Shop Cat? - Simon's Cat
I have been thinking about what I would enjoy to do and I decided that I want to do something with animals or an animal. Cats are my favourite animal. Making a short with a cat would make it easier as cats are always around and studying their movements would be easier than some animals. Cats is also one of my obsessions and if you know what its like to have Asperger Syndrome and an obsession you will know it takes over everything and you know as much as you can about that subject. This would make me fully interested in my project and more likely to keep up my blog and research.
Already there is a 'Just So Story' about a cat called ‘The Cat that Walked by Himself’ but I have been thinking about coming up with my own story. I really like the ‘Simon's Cat’ animations and was thinking about doing something similar. One of the Simon's Cat animations is below.
I could even go back to my idea in first year about the fish shop cat who tries to get his food tin open.
Already there is a 'Just So Story' about a cat called ‘The Cat that Walked by Himself’ but I have been thinking about coming up with my own story. I really like the ‘Simon's Cat’ animations and was thinking about doing something similar. One of the Simon's Cat animations is below.
I could even go back to my idea in first year about the fish shop cat who tries to get his food tin open.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Lovely style of animation I found - The Dog Door
While looking on YouTube I found this Russian animated story called 'The Dog Door' that has a beautiful style that I would be interested in trying to recreate.
There are animations!
I did a search on YouTube to see if the stories have been animated and I found a series that was broadcast on BBC in 1984. It was posted by a user called sheilagraber. Below is the link to all the Just So Stories she has posted.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=76A5B1AAFF1D002F
I also found various videos of the stories for sale on ebay. The cover art looks different to the YouTube animation so its possible that the stories have been animated again by someone else.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=76A5B1AAFF1D002F
I also found various videos of the stories for sale on ebay. The cover art looks different to the YouTube animation so its possible that the stories have been animated again by someone else.
My first idea - Just So Stories
When I was young I was very fond of the Just So Stories such as 'How the Leopard got his spots' and 'The Elephant's Child' and 'The Cat that walked by Himself' by Rudyard Kipling.
I thought that I could make one of these stories into an animated short.
If I choose to do this for my project, I plan to: -
* Read all the stories again.
* See if any have already been made as an animation.
* If it has been done before; watch them and review them. My likes and dislikes or any ideas they give me for my work.
* Look at similar animations and different styles of animation.
* Choose which story I would like to animate.
* If the story involves animals; study them at the zoo, in books and on the internet.
* Do sketches and designs of characters, sets.etc.
* Create walk cycles and test animations.
* Create a script
* Create a storyboard
* Create an animatic
* Animate the story
* Add sound and music
* Get feedback from people
* Make any changes
This can be a rough plan for any other idea that I come up with as well.
I thought that I could make one of these stories into an animated short.
If I choose to do this for my project, I plan to: -
* Read all the stories again.
* See if any have already been made as an animation.
* If it has been done before; watch them and review them. My likes and dislikes or any ideas they give me for my work.
* Look at similar animations and different styles of animation.
* Choose which story I would like to animate.
* If the story involves animals; study them at the zoo, in books and on the internet.
* Do sketches and designs of characters, sets.etc.
* Create walk cycles and test animations.
* Create a script
* Create a storyboard
* Create an animatic
* Animate the story
* Add sound and music
* Get feedback from people
* Make any changes
This can be a rough plan for any other idea that I come up with as well.
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