Reflective Report – Introduction to Compositing

The main objective for this brief is to create a short animated video following the idea of compositing. After doing a lot of research and planning I have now finished the final piece, and am very pleased with the result. My first step was to grasp the idea of compositing, and to do so I went on to have a look at different composited videos. I also sampled with Photoshop and After Effects learning how to cut out and shape different objects and the different ways of animating them, and this idea of adding layers. To start off with, I struggled due to the many techniques that are needed to learn, however after a lot of practicing and toying I have developed greatly.

After sampling with Photoshop and After Effects I then went on to look at different videos and examples of compositing. My main objective at the time was to find a certain style for my final animation, and so I went on to take a look at different animated videos and different styles, starting off with Fantasia 2000. This is one of my all time favourite films, due to the many animations presented and the different stories that they tell. Two animations that stuck with me from Fantasia 2000 were ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘Firebird Suite’. When looking at the styles of these animations, I realised how realistically these aren’t the types of animations I can interpret at this stage. However when looking at the animation for ‘Firebird Suite’ the story itself really inspired me, due to this idea of a personified spring waking up from winter and changing the dark and cold scenery into a beautiful spring.  At this stage I was still uncertain for theme and style for my animation, and so even though the “Firebird Suite’ story stuck with me, I still went on to look at different animations.

As well as looking at animated videos, I also went on to take a look at pieces of art and illustrations. One day we took a look at illustrative art of Brothers Grimm’s Tales, which I really enjoyed as it was a way of looking at different interpretations of these fairy tales. One tale in particular was Alice in Wonderland, and it was very interesting to see the many interpretations of the story, how one artist presents the story in a dark and grim illustration, another would present it in a happy and joyful one. I then went on to take a look at ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ by Robert Browning. This is one of my favourite childhood stories as it gives out a powerful message that we should not lie and betray. It is a very tragic story and quite sinister, but also very clever, how Browning has created this man who has the power to attract anything and anyone to follow him and take them away. And so this then took me back to Fantasia 2000, with the ‘Firebird Suite’ animation. There we had this idea of darkness turning into beauty, whereas ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’ has the opposite effect, where we have a happy town with joyful children, and then he comes along and takes them away, where the town is left dark and grieving. And so at this point I had my main idea for my animation where I wanted to create a dark, sinister character that comes along taking a beautiful, happy surrounding and turns it into a dark place.

Once I got the idea for my final piece, my next step was to then come up with a theme. When it comes to the visual arts of animating there is room for improvement in the process of drawing, and so I decided to paint my background in an almost abstract style. Before going ahead with my paining, I took a look at the art of Thomas Kinkade. Kinkade is an incredible artist; his paintings are beautiful and vibrant, and so I decided to take a similar approach towards my background. After sampling with the different brush effects and colours on ‘Paint X’, I then went on to create the background.  I am very happy with the outcome of my background painting; my aim was to create a colourful and alluring surrounding. I also included the bridge to enhance the pathway, which is the guideline for the main character. For this painting I used the ‘Coarse Bulk_3’ effect creating this abstract image, however In order to improve this background, next time I will try to create a more detailed piece of scenery drawing it free hand, and scan it on to the computer.

Once I was happy with the background for the final piece, the next step was to then go on and create the character. As I already had my idea of someone coming along and changing the beautiful surroundings into darkness, the type of character that came to my mind was the Grim Reaper. And so I went online to take a look at different illustrations, which inspired me to create a very simple figure. The main objective is that the surroundings change into darkness, therefore the character doesn’t need to be over exaggerated. Also with the abstract background, I didn’t want the character to be too detailed as it wouldn’t go, and so on Photoshop, I drew this simple figure in a long black gown which I believe suits well to the background. Next time, in order to improve, I would focus less on the surrounding going from graceful to dark, and more on the actual character.

All in all, I am very happy with my final piece, the aim was to create a beautiful piece of scenery, where a sinister figure comes along and turns it into a dark place, which I believe I have accomplished. However, in order to improve I would focus more on this sinister character by giving it more features and movement, and also give more of a story to the animation, perhaps an incident in which will express the figures character.

THE RIVER:

The River was quite simple to animate as I cut out the original river out so it looked like this:



I then went on to take an other layer on Photoshop with a copy of the cut out river:



I then went on to After Effects where I changed the positioning of the above river under the background layer and added the keys, resulting in a flowing river.

(The aim of the brief is compositing, meaning I need to add as much as I can to this animation).

THE BACKGROUND:



Due to my character not presenting a great amount of movement through ligaments, I have decided to add more movement to the background.

And so I have decided to add:

- Falling leaves from the trees

- River Moving

- Sun going down

- Branches moving

And so my first step was to go to google images to find a good template of a leaf.
I then went on to use that leaf on Photoshop and fill it in with the colours of the pink tree in the painting.

I then went on to create multiple copies of this leaf and made different scales and angles.

I also made a group of green leaves to fall from the green tree.          

Next I went on to creating movement in the branches. I was very happy with this outcome. as I believe it gives a certain quirkiness to the animation and also creates a warning for the dark figure that is on its way.

       

Above is my cut out of the tree and a branch. To create movement in the branch I went on to paste three copies of the above branch and attached them together and played around with angles and movement. One I got the correct movement I then changed the colour getting rid of the pink surrounding the branch and added the leaves. 

                      FINAL FIGURE DESIGN

The aim is to animate the figure shown below, walking over the bridge.

However due to the curve of the path before the bridge, in order to make the walk of the figure look believable I will need to draw different angles of the figure.

The figure will start off entering from the right side by the green tree at the smallest scale.








       Above is the first figure I will use as it will be coming in from the right hand side, therefore the figure will be seen showing the left side of its body.



                                                               
The figure will then change direction therefore I will change the format of the body to its right hand side.
Coming over the bridge the figures position changes again, and so I will go back to using the first figure showing the left side of its body.

(While the changing of the position of the figure proceeds, there will also be a gradual increase in scale of the body).

                                                                                       This last drawing will be the last figure I use in the animation for when it walks away after crossing the bridge. The path after the bridge is straight forward therefore the figure is drawn from its front profile.

HOW I CREATED THE FINAL FIGURE:

After looking at different illustrations of the Grim Reaper I then went on to create my own.

Due to the background for my final piece being almost an abstract painting, I though creating a detailed angel of death would not suit. And so I decided to create a very simple dark gown with an unsettled edge. In order to do so, I used a black spray tool for the bottom of the gown and then went over it with a glow rubber, giving it the smokey hovering effect. I am happy with my final character as I believe it suits the background, however in order to improve, next time I would create a more detailed background and character. 

HOW WILL I ANIMATE IT:

Now that my character has been created on Photoshop, the next step is to animate it, which I will do on After Effects. Luckily as my character is wearing a gown, there will be no need to create a physical movement for its body, my only intention is getting it to hover over the bridge, therefore my main focus will be on positioning. Also due to using different figures for different positions I will need to concentrate on opacity in order to fade the figure out, and then use the new figure at a different position to face in. I will also need to focus on scaling. 

FINAL TOUCHES:

Once I complete all of the above, the next step is lighting. 

The main idea is that this figure comes and walks along the bridge followed by darkness. And so I hope to change the light settings getting darker and darker throughout the animation starting from the far right hand side where the dark figure enters. As the figure walks along the darkness follows.

 IDEAS FOR CHARACTERS:



Thinking about my setting, the original idea was to have a figure come along and take all of the beauty and nature surrounded and replace it with darkness. I then started to think about dark fictional characters, such as vampires, fallen angels, and the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper is the idyllic character in which I imagined for my animation. The idea of this angel of death coming along and taking all things beautiful, and turning them into darkness is my main aim. However I don't intend on presenting any type of action from this character, only a subtle walk followed by darkness.

I found this picture above from a website called 'Wikja' where it is given a subheading 'The Story of Senor de Muerte'. I was unable to find the name of the artist for this piece, however I was fascinated by the dark image. The beautiful colours of the background and moonlight help exaggerate the dark figure.

And so for my final piece I hope to create my own dark angel with a similar subtlety to the above image.

FINAL BACKGROUND PAINTING

Here is my final painting for the background of my animation in which I created on 'Paint X'

With the inspiration of Thomas Kinkade's painting, I then went on to creating my own on 'Paint X'.

For this painting I again used the 'Coarse Bulk_3' for an abstract brush effect. I am very happy with the outcome of this painting, I believe I have succeeded in creating a similar effect to Kinkade, however made it my own. The main objective of the animation is for a figure to walk by creating darkness, therefore the first thing I needed to do was paint a path, which then gave me the idea of the bridge. After that I then went on to work around the bridge, with the river, trees, and flowers.

My next step is to now go on and create a character who will walk over the bridge.

I also hope create movement in the trees, perhaps falling leaves, and river flow.

NEXT STEP:

(Thomas Kinkade's 'Garden Painting')

Before going ahead with my own drawings, I wanted to try out my main idea on Thomas Kinkade's painting. And so I opened up 'Paint X Lite' and uploaded the painting.
I then went on to go over the painting with a few brush effects. First was 'Brush' which was a thick block colour texture in pink on the blossom trees. I then changed the brush to 'Coarse Bulk 3' which was a softer brush with a smudge effect. The result is shown above ^^
I then went on to use 'Coarse Bulk 2' on the rest of the painting which resulted in an abstract looking painting.





















Here is the outcome to using brush effects over Kinkade's painting. As you can see by the gates in the back of the painting, I have added a tall black figure using the 'Coarse Bulk 3' brush in black.


here is the painting again, however I have applied more of the brush in black to create a spreading effect.













This time I have made the black figure look as if it is getting closer as well as continuing to spread in the background





The figure gets closer and closer as if it's walking along the path, and the background gets darker and darker.











And then here is the transition, where the background is in complete darkness, and the black figure has take all of the colour and beauty.

 And then the figure slowly fades away.





And so next I decided to put all of these images together in a video to get an idea of movement and template for my final piece.

Here is the result:

Thomas Kinkade's 'Garden Painting'

Here is one of Thomas Kinkade's beautiful oil paintings under the category 'Garden Painting', where he shares more of his alluring art work of gardens. This has to be one of my favourites due to the contrast of pastel colours with the darker shades beneath. I also like the light sensation presented, sharing a calm and relaxed sentiment. This painting presents my ideal garden in which I hope to create something very similar for my final piece. The blossom trees, and pathway to the gate is the image that has stuck with me, and so with the inspiration from this painting I hope to interpret it in my own way but give off the same feeling as Kinkade does with this graceful painting.

Structure and Planning for the Final Piece 

Idea:
A dark looking figure, wearing a long black gown, walking through a beautiful garden filled with flowers, and as this figure walks through everything beautiful in the garden attaches to the gown and the garden is left dark and abandoned. 

First step: 
- Reference for the first image, being the beautiful garden
- sampling with different drawings of beautiful gardens
- putting the final drawing together

Second Step:
- Reference for the second image, being the dark, abandoned garden
- Sampling with different drawings of dark gardens
- putting the final drawing together

Third Step:
Transfer -
Once I have my beautiful garden and dark garden, I will then sample with transparency to get an idea of the final video through image.
I will then go to looking at fitting in the dark figure and how I am going to move the beauty from the garden onto the dark figures gown.

Final Step:
Putting the video together.

Planning for the Final Piece 

Ideas:
After looking at the illustrative art of Brother Grimm's Fairy Tales, not only did the many pieces of art inspire me, it also encouraged me to take more of a modern approach to my final piece.

One of my favourite child's tales would have to be Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin. And so I went further to take a look at the illustrations online.

All in all, this is a very dark story. At first we are presented with a Hero who is promised fifty thousand florins by the Mayor to play his music to the many rats in the town, who will then follow him and not come back. However when he does not receive the money promised by the Mayor the Piper then plays his music to the children who he takes from the town and are never to be seen again.

Presented in this story is heroism, victory, betrayal, and horror. And what I like most about it, is how he has the power to attract any living creature and control them. And so this idea of a powerful person has inspired me to take a similar approach for my final piece.

This then gave me the idea of taking something beautiful and making it ugly.

That then made me think about  'Firebird Suite, Fantasia 2000':

This is such a lovely, naturalistic animation. What I like most is this idea of spring being personified into a beautiful girl who comes along and changes winter into spring. And so here we have the idea of changing something dark into something beautiful, which is exactly what I am aiming for but the other way around.