Apollo

Whilst working on the first How To Train Your Dragon animated film, the animators used a software called 'Emo' which had been used since the 1980's. This software allowed the animators to manipulate the 3D models by using a spreadsheet which would manipulate parts of the character. However there were many disadvantages to the software, for example, when you wanted to edit a characters animation you would have to hide the other characters that were in the scene to begin working on the character, the render time could be anything from 20 minutes to 2 days and at times it would be guess work with the spreadsheet numbers, as the number may not match up with the manipulation of the cg character. This in effect created a demand for a new software, one that would allow the artists to manipulate the character by moving the limbs directly with in the scene alongside the characters that would also be situated in the frame. 

Software used for the first How To Train Your Dragon film, 'Emo' 

This software platform was created and named Apollo, with an animation software called Premo. The creation of this software took five years to make, due to the extensive research and attention to detail with what the animators wanted from this software. This helped the artists reduce an exponential amount of time and focus on create a battle scene with an army of both humans and dragons, which would have been impossible to envision with with previous software.

"The result, with Premo, was a tool that cut down on eye movement, arm strain, eye strain, and time. It used to take weeks to train artists. Now the artists can learn how to use Premo in a couple of hours." - http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/25/dragon-making-premo/

The Premo software allows you to pose using tablets, gain a high resolution image instantly, and allows you to edit frame by frame, manipulating the character in realtime. To create the Premo software, Dreamworks team collaborated with Intel, to create a cloud system that would help the render process time run faster than the previous software, and to store more data that the scenes would create. With the creation of this new software, the limits are near invisible with the advantage to improve and update the software as the advancement of technology continues.

The 'Torch' renderer, is a lighting package, that allows the animator to create in depth lighting that thinks outside the cartoon lighting, absorbing light that seems more natural and would not have been possible with the predated software. Including these elements it has room for complex imagery and aids the process in creating the overall look of the animation.

The apollo software used for the second film

The Stats for the final movie rendered outcome. 

references used, venturebeat, indiewire, 

Uncanny Valley

3D animated films do absorb a sense of realism into their aesthetics but keep that cartoon like appearance to suit the child audience. The animated film 'Polar Express' took this further and made realistic 3D models for their animation, using motion capture and modeling the characters close to their actors. The film itself held a good narrative but personally I don't find the realistic approach to the models that aesthetically pleasing; I prefer the cartoon inspired 3D animations, much like Megamind and The Lorax. The amount of realism added to the models gives a lifeless expression to their faces, the eyes seem void of any emotion compared to other popular 3D animations. 

"There is a theory to explain people’s strange dislike of artificial characters which look too real, called the ‘Uncanny Valley’. Basically the idea is that when a doll, or a CGI character, looks too much like a human, viewers notice small differences which distinguish it from a genuine living thing, become disgusted by its artificiality" - vividscribe.com

The Uncanny Valley hypothesis is used to describe the viewers distaste in 3D animation or robotics when they look too realistic, it causes some viewers a sudden reaction of disgust. However there is no extensive research on this to prove whether there is a solid basis for this to be recognized.
The Uncanny Valley hypothesis does explain why this perception of thought towards 3D animation is depicted; a sense of identity towards the characters are lost through how the audience see through the artificial quality of the animation, purely for the amount of realism the animation has taken. I believe that the motion capture of the movements do give characteristics and a sense of personality to the characters animations however the expression, the eyes of the models stop us from connecting with the character. 

Polar Express

Scooby Doo

Scooby Doo is a beloved and nostalgic cartoon created in the late 1960's, which involves five main characters who travel around America in their mystery van solving mysteries. The characters incorporate different personalities which are very stereotypical however they work well together for the young target audience that watch the program, and for the aged story line. The characters were presented in this way due to the influence of the era that it was created in:

+ Fred - The main leader of the group and is resembled as the hero.
+ Daphne - The main female role in the group and is resembled as the damsel in distress.
+ Velma - The brains of the group and helps them put the clues together to find the bad guy.
+ Shaggy - The jester of the group, always hungry and always ends up in trouble.
+ Scooby Doo - The main character, a lovable dog who will do anything for a scooby snack.

The original series held a good simple narrative that worked for both the older and the younger audience, with Scooby Doo and Shaggy being chased by the villain and accidentally capturing them as they run away. The series developed as technology advanced in both visuals and character development, the characters became less stereotypical, and gained more depth with the personalities. For example Daphne became a stronger character, able to defend herself and stopped being the damsel in distress as often as the original. This can be seen in the movie, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island 1998, Daphne becomes the main focus who brings the gang back together and finds them a new mystery.

The narrative is quite different to the regular mysteries, in which they catch the bad guy who is dressed up as a monster or ghost, in this instance the monsters are real. I quite liked this twist of narrative as it was something that they hadn't done before, and the reactions of their realisation of them encountering monsters that are real feels genuine through the facial expressions and the body language; An exaggeration is used as they use their arms to protect themselves with, shielding their eyes and slowing walking backwards as to try to escape the monsters. The colouring of the animation fitted the dark atmosphere, adding black fills for shadows and using desaturated tones to make it feel foreboding.

In the live action version of Scooby Doo, the characters are exaggerated more through their actions, as they feel as if they have taken influence through the walk cycles that each character obtains and makes it more unique. For example with the character Shaggy, emphasises his strides and shrugs his shoulders down, and as they sneak around, taking the most delicate footsteps by first lightly touching the floor with his toes and then turning his body to see if anyone is around before proceeding to move forward. I found the movement of his arms quite humorous with them being at his side but bent at the elbow and his hands forming a claw like shape, making him resemble a scared t-rex.

Father Ted

Father Ted is a comedy series that first aired in 1995 on channel 4 that follows the daily lives of three priests who live on a small island that isn't included on any map, Craggy Island, with its landmarks being 'the field' and the holy stone of Clonrichert. The narrative does not include plot heavy story lines, instead it shows the routines and reactions that the three priests and Mrs Doyle face everyday, no matter how small the problem may be. Father Ted, the main character, is seemingly the only normal character with in the household, with one priest, Father Dougal McGuire who doesn't really know what is happening all the time. With Father Jack Hackett, a drunk elderly priest, who's dialogue consists of as little syllables as possible, drinks and sleeps everyday, and Mrs Doyle the housekeeper who always asks if they want a cup of tea, forcing them to have beverage even if they don't want to.

The programs humour is based on the reactions of the main character and trying to solve the problem that he or the other priests have caused. For example, in one episode, Father Ted tries to raise money to repair the leak in the roof by arranging a raffle, in which the main prize would be a car. However as Ted notices a small dent in the car, he tries to fix it and ends up making the car worse and barely driveable. The reaction that Ted has as he realises what he has done to the car is what makes the scene for the audience. As the camera changes from Dougals face to a close up of Ted as he continues to try and hammer out what began as a small dent in the car, being as delicate as possible, it then zooms out to show the whole of the cars appearance. He slowly walks to Dougal, gazing at the cars appearance, muttering he'd sleep on it. It then cuts to Father Ted screaming in the night, as he realises that he has destroyed the car. This delayed reaction works well with the main characters personality, he tries to fixes things and in the end, he always somehow makes it worst, no matter how had

Episode 'Think Fast Father Ted'

The appearances and expressions of the characters help to build the personalities of the roles compared to the body language which is not as exaggerated compared to most comedy shows, instead it relies on the small actions, the twitches or characteristics that each character portrays. For example the appearance of Father Jack Hackett, depicts warts, boils and gnarled teeth, which resembles a filthy and non healthly lifestyle to the audience, it is not until the character creates a hostile expression towards Ted for not giving him a drink that the viewer sees that he is a grumpy old man, who would do anything for a drink. I personally love how when an alcoholic beverage is either poured or clangs slightly as it hits the table away from him, he moves his head from left to right, much like a dog that can smell his dinner and is then able to say the name of the drink. This small action shows how much he needs this form of drink to the extent he even knows the smell and sound of the bottle from a distance.

Another example can be seen in Father Dougal McGuire's reactions when Father Ted tries to explain something to him, in the episode that involves them going on holiday. Ted holds a miniature figure of a cow in his hands and holds it up to Dougal, explaining that the ones outside where very far away, which was they they looked small like the figure, Dougals expression is a mixture of thinking and confusion as he tries to wrap his thoughts around this concept, his body language leaning towards Ted as if to try and absorb the explanation, his armed crossed to show how he still doesn't understand what is being said.

Laurel and Hardy

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy created a comedy series, Laurel and Hardy, that was aired during the late 1920's, in the early american cinema. The show was set in black and white, including no sound with dialogue represented with text frames in amongst the scenes. This was due to lack of technology with in this era, and this form of film and projecting it in cinemas was revolutionary for the time. However as technology advanced, sound was included in the later series of the show.

The comedy of the Laurel and Hardy series is emitted from the body language and expressions that the pair portray as the narrative of the storyline starts to unravel, and they soon realise that they have mistook their fortune for something entirely different. For example in one of the episodes, Laurel receives a letter inviting him to collect his fortune left from a distant relative, the catch being that they had to spend a night in the mansion that the relative died in. As the night continues, the plot unveils one of the characters, a man dressed as a woman fortune teller, was slowly trapping one relative at a time, so that he could steal the fortune for himself. At the end of the show, the audience then realised that it had been Hardys dream all along.

The expressions that Laurel makes are iconic for the comedy duo, his expressions paint the predicament of the scenario that they are currently facing. This can be seen in the episode in which Laurel and Hardy are commissioned to move a grand piano to a house that is situated on top of a very steep hill. As the piano travels up the hill, Laurel lets go of the piano and it rolls back down the hill; Laurels expression is one of frustration but also sheer fear of what Hardy will say to him if the piano crashes into something as it races down the steep. The audience have a good idea of what Laurel will do next to save his skin, try to grab the piano in humorous ways. Another example can be seen when Laurel believes that he has done something good and shown Hardy that he can do something on his own, he depicts a smug look on his face as he twists his hat slightly in his hands and looks down at the floor as he awaits Hardys praise, that unfortunately never happens.

The body language is highly emphasised and exaggerated through the use of raising their arms higher or taking longer strides as they act, adding subtle movements such as holding on to their hat as they run, or holding their braces and playing with their tie as they feel embarrassed or praised for their work. These slight movements in their actions help to describe the atmosphere and the personality for the character on the screen. The audience can tell what form of character that Laurel and Hardy are, Laurel being clumsy, lovable but sometimes stupid, and Hardy being too selfish, vain and clever for his own good.

Emperor's New Groove

Emperors New Groove follows a spoilt young emperor as he sets his eyes on a small village to build a resort as a present to himself, meanwhile the emperors advisor is planning to take his thrown by making the emperor disappear for good. Her plan involved poisoning the emperors food however Kronk, the emperors advisors assistant, mixed the bottles and instead turned the emperor into a Llama. A villager from the village that the emperor plans to tear down, helps the emperor to turn back to human, with the condition that he leaves the village alone.

The narrative works really well for the family audience through the use of humour, appealing to both the parents and the children, and the simple plot that involves the characters. If the Emperors New Groove had a complex storyline, the audience would be restricted to an older target market, rather than a family based target market; the narrative has to be simple and clear for the younger audience to understand the story. I quite liked the addition of the monologue, where the animation is seemed to be put on pause and the main character in his llama form talks the audience at home. This touch makes it seem as if the characters are real to the younger viewer, making the story more believable to them.

The personalities of the characters are emphasised with the mood that each character portrays with the action in the narrative. For example, as the emperor likes the idea of being a llama, he skips and struts with a bounce in his hooves, and the next scene shows him miserable and crying as he his shoulders droop and his head is lowered, realising that he wants to be human again. Some of the characters can be identified through certain characteristics that they make as they perform different poses or dialogue. For example the character Kronk, after he says his dialogue, that the emperors adviser believes to be stupid, he grins smugly creating a humorous scene; the smile becoming iconic to that character.

The visuals of the animation obtain a stylised character design that is set with a mayan setting and works with the family audience through both the use of colour and the cartoon esk appeal to the figures.

Final Crit Feedback

For the Final Crit, I rendered the scenes and progress that I had done so far with the animation, so that the peers would be able to see the environment that Moom would be interacting with and any textures that I had added to the scenes.

The feedback was positive with good criticism on my progress, with the audio and some of the camera animations, so that I can improve my animation further.  The main criticism was the movement of Moom, he wasn't alive enough, movements were not as believable; through the lack of relaxed movement in the spins. To solve this problem, I need to add more key frames with in the inbetweens to add subtle movement, and look over my primary reference for influence. Using overlapping action through out the editing of the actions, will help to create the relaxed movements.

The movement of the camera was another criticism that was raised, the camera moved too much, which took the viewers attention away from what was happening. To solve this problem I need to cut out the panning of the camera and leave the changing of perspective with a clean cut. I believe this will work better with the piece through the amount of movement that happens in the scenes; will make it less confusing to watch for the audience.

Looking through my animation again, I believe that the duration was too long, too much happened with in the video. Cutting out one of the scenes such as the introduction of the green bear or the music box scene would aid how smoothly the animation would run, and focus more on the short narrative.

Mocap and Motion builder

Colin Graham - Director of animation, notes on his talk about Watch Dogs at Bradford Animation Festival.

+ In the game, Watch Dogs, everything was 100%  recorded with motion capture, with most animators adding their own key frames to situate the footage with in the animation and game data. All motion was delivered in this process, saving time with trying to create natural movements that would occur as the covering and fighting scenes would take place, each needed an iconic movement that related to the character. The expense of the motion capture was budgeted with in the increase of their budget as they were progressing with the project. From this the program, Motion Builder, from AutoDesk, was used to connect the dots that were on the actor for the motion capture, the only connection to this actor were the dots that were recorded, so the dots had to be in the correct place to be able to see the movement and use it for their game models. Each of these dot markers are tracked and the challenge is to find out which marker is which as they cross over. The animators job is to reshape the data, starting from the rig the retarget man has done and editing it. Actor tool is an accurate, virtual mannequin of the actor, with the in game skeleton connected through the infamous t-pose. Using that as a basis, the retarget tool is used for the connection relationship between the in game character rig and motion capture. Most animators begin the motion builder experience with control rigs.

+ The pivot points are essential, these will cause problems in the future, such as if the characters shoulder pivots are too close then you will either get too much or too little rotation than you actually need to be able to animate. An example of this can be seen in Arkam Asylum, there was no shoulder movement at all due to this problem, which was caused early on in the animation process and wasn't fixed due to the time that was left to complete the game. With hand contact - when making contact you want to use reach and pull, the gesture being FK, this provides better rotation. The role of gameplay animators are more technical, as everybody is the director, what it means to the gameplay and how it fits; reactions, how long does the character have to be distracted. When shooting the motion capture, learn to interact with the actor, able to put in your input directly rather than relaying messages through people to eventually get the scene redone.

Motion capture studio

+ The new role of gameplay animators have tools that are specifically aimed at animators, able to create new software for specific needs and to save time. Animators now have usual interfaces that was only available to programmers, now you can do it yourself with out asking anyone. The speed and the responsiveness of animation is now determined by the animators not the game designers; game designers are more the lead on the responsive time and reactions. Timing is not just the length but the frames between the key animations. Animators now have the responsibility to learn game design.

I believe that this is quite an interesting statement through how the advancement of technology has progressed so much that there is more for the animator to learn, to develop and have key skills in other areas of disciplines than the one that they originally intended to stick with. I also feel that this creates alot of pressure to understand this technical side more, meaning a few limitations can be made through the lack of skills in this area of programming, especially whilst working on a game animation and at the same time trying to learn the programming yourself, to then further edit your sequence. However cutting out the middle man, the programmer in this case, could essentially be easier for the animator to work, rather than waiting for feedback and for the revised scene to be sent back for you to edit, you can directly do that yourself and get feedback directly from the animation director etc. This can be seen as a double edged sword through the loss of jobs that this could possibly make, for instance if you have an animator that can program as well, do you need another programmer?

Notes on Loop De Loop

For one of the five briefs that I needed to do for the Responsive module, I wanted to create a short animation for the Loop De Loop competition.

My initial and immediate thoughts were to create something that held a sense of animation much like Rebecca Mocks work, which holds detailed animation to illustrations, giving them life. I liked the use of the illustration with the subtle animation of the laptop and phone, which could be taken further with the steam emitting from the coffee cup, or even the pages of the sketchbook turning a page. I felt that I could adapt this into my animation style for the Loop De Loop challenge of the month and create something that relates to the theme of 'Faces'.  I researched into the other animations that the other contestants had submitted and each one took the word 'faces' in a literal sense with the human facial features that contour and warp into something else, or peel back to reveal something hidden inside/behind it. I started to think about how I could think outside of the box with the word 'Faces', what else it could possibly refer to. For example, clock faces, a side of a cube, a surface, masks, identity. I felt that I couldn't go too much outside the box as it may not seem relatable in the final outcome without looking at the development and process of the animation; I needed to keep in mind that the animation needed to be relevant to both the theme and noticeable to the audience that may possibly view the animation.

From the months theme 'Faces', I was inspired by the illustrator David Foldvari, who created a piece, called 'Mask' portraying the anonymous identities of people online and even stretching to people we see in real life, how do we know who they claim to be? An initial idea from the mind map point, 'Masks' was one in which a person takes off multiple masks that would then loop back to the original mask at the beginning of the animation however whilst researching other peoples submissions, a few contestants had absorbed an element of this in their work. If I was to develop this idea, I need to research more and make the animation more original from the rest of the work on the site.

'Mask'

Dandy design 2

For the second design of Space Dandy for the Qwertee t-shirt competition, I used one of the initial sketches of a pose in which I made the main character jump in a dynamic position. I quite liked the kinetic motion that was captured in the pose and I wanted to take this further into a digital design using mainly photoshop to create the design. I wanted the design to be with in a star, which relates to the design on Dandy's top and with the main environment being in space; in which I made the main outline fit within the shape, with a few parts of the design standing out from the star outline to add depth to the design, make it feel less flat. With the colour of the design I could only use at a maximum of 5 hues in which I used the main colours of the characters design from the character sheets of the show. I found it difficult adding colour to the gun due to the gun being different colours to the design of the main character; to solve this problem I experimented with situating the colours next to each other on the gun, to make it stand out from the rest of the composition, rather than blending in with the rest of the colours that Dandys character was formatted with.

After colouring the design, I debated about the design of his legs, I felt that the design could work with out the lower part of his legs, however I felt adding this part would possibly work better especially with the hand and gun standing out of the star. In addition I could possibly add the illusion of shading by adding halftone to the image, giving more depth to the image.

Using the pen tool to alter the design

Process so far

Character designs Alice

For Alices design, I wanted to make her character different to the rest of the Wonderland characters, I thought about giving her more detail with facial expressions rather than the simplistic ones that I had given the Mad Hatter. I started generating ideas by sketching out different facial styles that could possibly work with the Alice character. From this I then took 4 of these designs in which I felt could work and drew them next to the Mad Hatter design to see if the different illustrative style of Alice would look aesthetically pleasing next to the other characters.

I felt that the last design of Alice worked well with the Mad Hatter as the detail of the facial features did not clash too much with the style of the wonderland characters, as the Mad Hatters eyes are dots, I thought a more detailed eye of alices design could possible lack in aesthetic appeal, making it clash and not seem like it is in the same illustration, however it surprisingly worked well.

From the previous design sketches, I took this further and began to create a full body design of the character Alice. I thought about the dress and how the white part of the dress would interact with each other, by which I added a bow at the back of the design and made a vest like top to the white fabric to blend better with the blue material. I felt that the shoes needed to be simple, so I designed a black shoe with a slight open top as to show some detail in the footwear and work with the white fabric in her clothing. The position of bow needed to be set to a side, when it was situated in the centre, top of her head, it looked strange and didnt work with the rest of the costume design.

Peer Review notes (Alice in Wonderland Brief)

For the Peer Review, I first wrote down five questions in which to gain primarily from the feedback I would be gaining from my development work so far:

What Feedback do I need?

1. How iconic does the book illustrations need to be?
2. Would QR, AR or a password fit the target audience?
3. Would a textured background work well with the digitally coloured characters and work with the audience I am aiming for?
4. Would it be too much to animate the 150th logo along with the rest of the animation, should it stay stationary?
5. Location of the logo and the password or codes?

1. The iconic items or appearance of the characters need to be kept, for example the blue and white dress and blonde hair of Alice, and a top hat for the Mad Hatter. - A shop in Newcastle that uses Alice in Wonderland themes for their window display, 3D pop out designs that move - take influence from other brands and other window displays. - Iconic and child like enough - as long as you include the main key aspect of the original design of the characters. With the designs you have done so far, you need to make alice in the same style as the rest of the characters as it will be too confusing for the audience that your brief is aimed at - understand the message I was trying to get across with the design but that would suit a much older audience.

2. Passwords definitely - the rest of the codes would be to complicated for the child audience - Interactive is good but dont make it too complicated - include a possible other narrative but don't make it difficult for the age range to find and understand the code. Technology such as the AR is given to children, such as the 3DS, however it would most likely be the adults that would use the QR codes or at least an older audience than the one which you are aiming for.

3. Textures could work but you would need to research and experiment when you take the illustrations to digital.

4. See how it looks animated, the 150th logo, if not just make it stationary, make it simple, animate only a certain part and maybe alice gets into the logo and then turns into the illustration.

5. Location should be in the image, scattered in the background or woven into the frame, if there is one. Needs to be easy to find for the child audience to be able to find.

Visual Moodboard 1

Redesigning Alice

Redesigning Alice

Character expressions and poses

I researched more into visual imagery of body language and expressions on a character to emphasise both the personality and the emotion that is perceived on the character.

In the popular Japanese animation, Naruto, his character design is exaggerated dramatically with facial expressions. For example when his character is shocked his eyes disappear and are replaced with white circles and distressed outlines, matched with a mouth that is wide and jaw dropped, the teeth portrayed as blocks. I find that this expression works quite well as the viewer can tell that it is a shocked expression, and it creates its own stylisation with in the illustrative style of the show. Another interesting expression is one that shows a disgusted look, his eyes narrow dramatically and his mouth nearly becomes a wide line, with his eyebrows close to his eyes. I find this quite humourous but also inspiring as it takes a subtle approach to the emotion of disgust rather than it being the typical, hands in front of face with a shocked expression and angled eyebrows.

Naruto character sheet

I then stumbled across some poses for one of the characters in the Disney animation, Black cauldron. I found them influential through the use of line, the extended stretch and elongated legs that emphasised the characters run. The slumped poses worked well with his head resting in his palm as his body is leant forwards and slouched, contrasting with the happy demeanour portrayed in a stretched form with his body leant slight back with his head held high.

Black Cauldron

Space Dandy

Narrative: An alien hunter in space, Dandy, who searches for rare aliens with his friends, Meow, a cat alien, and QT, a robot. The narrative is aimed at an older audience with the sense of humor that is entwined with the adventures that they face each episode. Each episode is different to the next with what seems to be no inkling of linking to the plot of the series, however after watching the series again there are parts which foreshadowing the finale of Space Dandy. The plot can alter from being comedy based with characters and themes of episodes, which are evidence of this, to being dark and emotional themes that works well to portray the personalities of the three main characters. For example, the episode 'A World Without Sadness, Baby' focuses on the main character, who awakes on a strange dismal planet where everything is portrayed in mainly grayscale and desaturated colours. The episode touches on the theme of limbo and death which is quite subject heavy for the light hearted episodes that came previous. However this episode helps to build his personality and portray this to the audience, through showing how he tries to escape to get back to the life that he loved and to join his friends that he travels with.

Character: The character design for the show is a mix between a Western and Japanese style through the portrayal of the angular jaws and small eyes compared to the stereotypical anime eyes that take over most of the facial features. The design is quite intricate with clothing and proportional figures, that depict the characters personality, for example with the main character Dandy, he wears a baseball jacket that is related to the popular high school baseball team, which does reflect well on Dandys ego. His body language helps to portray his 'cool' demeanour' as he interacts with characters, head high, winking and snapping his fingers at characters. It also helps to portray his cowardly side, hands in pockets with small steps, hunched shoulders and looking at the ground, or even running away as fast as he can with his arms swinging high in the air and his legs barely skimming the ground as he dashes away. I feel that not only does his body language make the show with the comedy moments but his facial expressions are a key part in this. Dandy's facial features are enhanced with the position of his eyebrows that makes his eyes look clueless, confused and scared with a comedy appeal; his mouth expressions are exaggerated from normal expressions to emphasise the emotion that is depicted. 

Spongebob Squarepants

A sponge, Spongebob Squarepants, who lives in a pineapple under the sea who either spends his time working at the fast food restaurant, the Krusty Krab or hanging out with his friend, Patrick. Each episode is different to the other, with no plot heavy episodes, that focuses solely on the adventure that entails the main character. The narrative is aimed at a younger audience which can be seen through the character design and the simple structure of the episode that be easily understood by the viewers. Although their are a few jokes and comedy moments that are aimed at an older audience, such as parents that watch the show with their children. This cheeky humour works quite well with the show and can be easily missed by the younger audience.

Spongebob Squarepants design is a sponge with legs and arms that can wave and move quite fluidly to create interesting and humourous poses, whether it involves him chasing after jellyfish or flipping krabby patties at the Krusty Krab. The expressions of Spongebob is what makes his personality, for example for an awe inspired expression his eyes will increase in size and his smile grows to fill most of his face, which works with the target audience for the show. Another example is his sad expressions where his nose would droop and his eyes would differ between narrowing for an annoyed look or widening for a puppy dog expression. With the main character being a sponge it gives room for the facial expressions to be extremely exaggerated compared to normal characters in other shows, it gives room for the mouth to be stretched out wide to make a silly expression, or even his whole face sink into his head, purely for the reason that he is a sponge with these properties to be able to do so. 

Danny Phantom

The narrative follows a 14 year old boy, Danny Fenton, is accidentally turned into a half ghost when he steps inside his parents machine. With his new found powers he saves the city by putting ghosts back into the ghost realm with the help of his two best friends, Sam and Tucker. The narrative is aimed at an older young audience, for example 10-14 year olds, which can be seen through the age of the main characters and the setting in which they are in, the main environment being a high school. Each episode shows the main character battling a different ghost as they try to to terrorize the town, ending the episode like it was a normal average day for the three main characters. This form of narrative works well as can lead to creative plot lines with no worry of needing the plot to stretch over a few episodes. The plot episodes involve a darker atmosphere that incorporates his friends or family to be kidnapped by a powerful ghost from the ghost realm; the endings of these episodes mostly end with the plot never seeming to have actually happened, involving time travel or a magic item that can rewrite what has happened during the episode.

The character design is quite simple with the use of colour and the shapes used to create both the characters and the world that they are situated in. The animation for the characters run smoothly which works with the quick change to each pose that is relatable to Danny Phantom and Fairly Odd Parents. The body language for the main character changes from a teenager with slumped shoulders and a disheartened expression as he faces the school characters, to one which is linked to a superhero with hands on hips and a proud demeanour when he turns into a ghost. I quite like how the eyebrows are dramatically animated along with the exaggerated pose that the main character is in, it helps to portray his personality even more to the audience. The poses are quite stylised in an angular fashion which surprisingly works well with the use of the action poses that Danny makes. I feel that it relates well with the square and angular illustrative style of typical western comic books, like Superman and Batman. 

Over the Garden Wall

Over the Garden Wall is a cartoon series consisting of 10 episodes that follows two brothers, Greg and Wirt with a bluebird Beatrice, and a frog, as they try to find their way out of the woods and back home. The narrative of the cartoon depicts a victorian esk story portrayal of two brothers trying to find their way home, whilst they meet with wonderful and weird creatures along the way. The story of each episode in the series has a Grim Brothers fairytale like structure to both the design of the world and the characters, including the way they pronounced their dialogue. The dialogue being quite formal with the majority of characters that are introduced, pronouncing each syllable; this helps to create an ages atmosphere over the cartoon, linking with the character and world structure. The Grim Brothers influence can be seen through the small adventures that they undertake, such as the episode 'The Ringing of the Bell' where Greg and Wirt stumble across an old cottage, in which an old woman and maid reside. The brothers soon realise that the girl is being deceived as the old woman rings a bell in which the girl has to obey any command. After trying to rescue the young girl, the brothers see the girl for what she really is, a demon, who the old woman was trying to protect all along. This form of narrative strongly reminds me of the Grim Brothers with the twist in the story that makes you question who is good and who is evil.

The main target audience is the young generation with it being released weekly on Cartoon Network, however darker themes are portrayed through the show which seem to be aimed at an older audience much like Adventure Time. With this form of narrative compared to the rest of the show, the narrative reveals what the world and what the beast that follows and infects the world and its inhabitants actually are. This unveiling makes the rest of the adventures that the brothers undertook make more sense with the reality of the situation that they are in, how the main characters seem so different, almost alien compared to the rest of the characters that they interact with.

The character design is quite simple and drawn in such an illustrative style that it suits the younger target market that the program channel Cartoon Network aim for; The use of the dark narrative works well with the illustrative style that is mixed with a victorian fashion.

The personality of the older brother Wirt is portrayed through his facial expression and demeanour with a slouched posture and lowered shoulders to depict his gloomy and stubbon moods. The facial expressions are quite exaggerated with the movement of the mouth with decreasing in size or increasing to the point it fills most of his lower face, pupils extremely smaller to show shock etc. Wirt's body language highly effects the tone of mood that he is engulfed with, throughout the narrative he is quite anxious of the new characters that he meets, a hunched posture and closed off from people by keeping his arms wrapped around himself or taking a step back. Whereas Greg is always optimistic, which changes Wirt's attitude by taking a straight posture, becoming more confident seen in his dramatic movements with his arms or moving his hat, and walking with a slight bounce, a 'skip in his step' as he helps different characters. In some cases with his body language it is exaggerated through the use of his joints in his arms in which remind me slightly of adventure time through how they can wave compared to the movement in a more realistic arm.

The younger brother 'Greg' holds a happy outlook portrayed in both his body language and his facial expressions as he wonders to the next adventure with the world as they search for a way home. With Gregs attitude the solution to the episodes problems are unlikely solved with an action that he accidentally does. He often spins and dances, exaggerating the width of his steps and skipping slightly with his arms outstretched which works well with his happy facial expressions, creating a happy go lucky demeanour. 

Process so far, the doll spin

I started editing the doll spin further as there were a few jagged movements created from what seemed to be the key frames, however the inbetweens were the source of problem. The key frames I had placed on the timeline worked well after one another, with the inbetweens adding a jagged approach to the animation. I assumed that the possible cause of this movement could have been due to the rotation that I had made to the next frame, so I deleted the key frame before the jagged inbetween and made a new key frame in its place. However this made the problem worst. Instead of the animation seeming to be rough as the doll spun, the doll now rotated through the music box back to the position of the new key frame that I had made. The main problem being the inbetweens, the only solution that I could do to solve this was to set key frames over the inbetweens that were causing this problem. Although this took time to smooth out the animation, the end result worked well and I was able to create a faster spin motion as the box closed on the doll, as if the doll knew that the lid would close on her.

I then started on Mooms lip sync, which I found difficult due to the movement of the animation. As Moom was mainly shown from a profile view due to the camera angle, I had to ensure that the movement of the lip sync felt smooth and was easily related to the audio through the audiences perspective. I managed to achieve this by slightly moving Mooms head so that he was not on a straight profile perspective, more towards a slight 3/4 angle which helped the audience see the lip sync better.

Alice in Wonderland - QR, AR and Passwords, Which one is more suitable?

I wanted the Alice in Wonderland cover to be interactive for the young audience to become more attracted to the book and for the book to be suitable for the 150th anniversary. I wanted the interactive side of the book to link to an animation, in which I would create a storyboard for to improve my practice. This interactive link needed to be easily accessible for the young audience through the technology that they would be able to access, for example mobile phones, laptop and tablets. My initial ideas included passwords, AR and QR codes, which I felt would work well with the technology that the young audience and the gift buyers have access to. I made a mind map for each of the themes, considering location, target market and capabilities.

AR codes, Augmented Reality, allow you to view a 3D moving image through the use of scanning a code through your phone or tablet. I felt that this code would have worked well through how interactive the book cover would be, for example being able to see the cover moving slightly as it stood out from the phone would be aesthetically pleasing for the young audience. However when researching into the AR codes further it became more apparent that the technology to be able to view the AR codes would not be as accessible to the young audience through the use of downloading apps to then be able to view the 3D imagery. The interactive side to the design needed to be simple and easy to view to appeal more to both of the audiences. I then researched into QR codes, Quick Response, is much like the AR codes in which you scan or take a picture of the design to see the interactive link. However QR codes opens the image or video directly through your browser which would make it easier to access the imagery compared to the AR codes, which require certain specifications and apps to ensure it works properly. I felt that the QR codes would be a fantastic way to view the image, in which the young audience could move their tablets above the image and then the video instantly play from the still image of the book cover. I believe this would be aesthetically pleasing for both the young audience and the gift buyers that are the main target audience for the brief. After obtaining feedback from peers on whether the use of AR codes would be suitable for the audience or using the QR codes would be easier to access for the target market, I noticed that the use of a password would possibly be the most suitable method in which the audience would be able to view the interactive design. The use of the password would involve the viewer to first find the password, go to the web address and then type in the password, which could actually be a could form of advertising. As the audience go onto the website their would be recommendations for other book titles similar to the Alice in Wonderland book that the age range would be interested in and the banner/logo of the publishers could be a link to their main website.

Comparing 3D to make up design in Films

3D graphics can really aid a film with creating characters in fantasy based narrative that have weird and wonderful designs and the use of costume and make up design wouldn't do the character justice. This can be seen in the film Guardians of the Galaxy with the characters, Rocket - a talking raccoon, and Groot - a talking house plant that grew into muscle for Rocket to help him catching bounties.

The character Rocket would only have been possible with the use of CG graphics with the use of talking and getting across a personality of the character through the movements that Rocket makes, he acts and talks like a human rather than the animal, which would have been very difficult to create with make up effects. The character Groot could possibly been made with make up and costume effects, however the budget would most likely have been bigger than making the character entirely of CG and motion capture. The use of CG helps to create motion that most likely would not have been able recreate in make up and costume effects, however small parts such as growing extra branches, flowers and growing taller would have been difficult to create without CG. The CG works well when interacting with the actors in which some are designed with costume and make up effects that work well portraying the alien esk appearance compared to the main character who is of human descent.

In some cases, even though you can tell the amount of budget and time behind the CG does not work well. For example in the latest film in the Hobbit trilogy, Dain Ironfoot was introduced on a battle boar as he prepares for battle, in which both are in CG for ease in animation and aesthetics with the rest of the frame. However when Thorin stands with Dain, Dain is set entirely in CG, more so with the close up his face which I found quite strange when set next to Thorin who wasn't in CG. I felt that this did not work well as even though the graphics were stunning, next to a physical actor it looked strange.
I believe that for the authenticity of the character it needed to be make up effects to work and match with the other characters that were not in CG, to make it feel more realistic like the rest of the characters.

A good example of make up design is from the films, Harry Potter, another fantasy based narrative that involves magical creatures such as goblins. The goblin designs were made using make up and costume effects, that hold an incredible amount of detail and give a sense of authenticity and realism to the fantasy characters. Even through the goblins could have been made in CG, the sense of these characters being real heightens with the use of the make up effects and works well when interacting with other actors.