Project 2 - 4D
Coming up:
Roger Moore's eyebrow goes on a journey, Jaw's teeth eat some air and I attempt to create some James Bond related GIFs.
Roger Moore's eyebrow goes on a journey, Jaw's teeth eat some air and I attempt to create some James Bond related GIFs.
Terry Gilliam:
The first animator that we got shown in the lecture yesterday was Terry Gilliam and straight away I know that I'd love to create some animation in the same sort of style as him. He has a very unique style of just having fun and it can be easily seen in most of his work. Gilliam is mostly known for his work within Monty Python with his weird and wonderful animations of which are done mostly by hand, nothing digital. His work can be recognised by his use of complete randomness such as using a mix of different images with no meaning doing things you wouldn't expect, or just by making things move in a way that surprises the viewers, like the way the man's mouth has opened or like the way the purple bloke's teeth move up and down in time with the music. His work is simply lovely and has made me know straight away that to create animations in a way that catch people's eye's, it is important to make something that has the ability to surprise the viewers in a way that they would remember.
The first animator that we got shown in the lecture yesterday was Terry Gilliam and straight away I know that I'd love to create some animation in the same sort of style as him. He has a very unique style of just having fun and it can be easily seen in most of his work. Gilliam is mostly known for his work within Monty Python with his weird and wonderful animations of which are done mostly by hand, nothing digital. His work can be recognised by his use of complete randomness such as using a mix of different images with no meaning doing things you wouldn't expect, or just by making things move in a way that surprises the viewers, like the way the man's mouth has opened or like the way the purple bloke's teeth move up and down in time with the music. His work is simply lovely and has made me know straight away that to create animations in a way that catch people's eye's, it is important to make something that has the ability to surprise the viewers in a way that they would remember.
Ok-Go:
You know that band with the cool videos? Yeah, that's Ok-Go, the band that people know more from their interesting music videos rather than the actual music. It was always going to be worth giving these music videos a shout as they do kind of link into the thought of animation, okay well maybe not all of them, but the music video for Obsession includes thousands of paper being printed in the background which practically creates the music video as it prints out. The reason it counts as animation in my head is because all of the pages that are printed off are all set like a low frame rate film as you can see the band moving around on the paper as well as real life in the video so it all looks like they are being photo copied off in the background, it is all very aesthetically pleasing to watch so I recommend you going in and watching some of their videos.
You know that band with the cool videos? Yeah, that's Ok-Go, the band that people know more from their interesting music videos rather than the actual music. It was always going to be worth giving these music videos a shout as they do kind of link into the thought of animation, okay well maybe not all of them, but the music video for Obsession includes thousands of paper being printed in the background which practically creates the music video as it prints out. The reason it counts as animation in my head is because all of the pages that are printed off are all set like a low frame rate film as you can see the band moving around on the paper as well as real life in the video so it all looks like they are being photo copied off in the background, it is all very aesthetically pleasing to watch so I recommend you going in and watching some of their videos.
Hilary - Chris Robinson:
Catch Me If You Can opening sequence:
Well, I don't think there is a more unique film intro than the Catch Me If You Can, due to its really satisfying style and the way it perfectly clicks with the background song. The way they managed to tell the entire story of the film while using shapes and only two colours. Personally, I have always been a fan of the block coloured design work, so this sits really well with me.
Well, I don't think there is a more unique film intro than the Catch Me If You Can, due to its really satisfying style and the way it perfectly clicks with the background song. The way they managed to tell the entire story of the film while using shapes and only two colours. Personally, I have always been a fan of the block coloured design work, so this sits really well with me.
X-Men First Class credits:
I was watching X-Men First Class last night and I noticed the end credits. They were so satisfying that I was more than happy to sit through the closing credits as it has been really well animated. I really like the use of the shapes and colours to just create some eye candy.
I was watching X-Men First Class last night and I noticed the end credits. They were so satisfying that I was more than happy to sit through the closing credits as it has been really well animated. I really like the use of the shapes and colours to just create some eye candy.
Wallace And Gromit:
The most incredible animation that I can think of is the mighty Wallace and Gromit. This stop motion classic became a sensation from all of the hard work that went into creating the animation to the interesting way they introduced the British comedy into the animation. These will always be one of the first animations that comes into mind as I have been watching this since I was born and I can always think of good memories when this is mentioned.
The most incredible animation that I can think of is the mighty Wallace and Gromit. This stop motion classic became a sensation from all of the hard work that went into creating the animation to the interesting way they introduced the British comedy into the animation. These will always be one of the first animations that comes into mind as I have been watching this since I was born and I can always think of good memories when this is mentioned.
It is probably about time that I look into actually creating my first animation isn't it, well here are some quick sketches of a very basic, short animation of a man walking away from an explosion because that is a cool thing to do and it links perfectly to the Film Tropes theme for this project. It is a pretty basic first idea but it's an idea nevertheless.
Another rather sarcastic approach to these Film tropes was the idea of the baddies in films always seem to be shocking at shooting when it comes to shooting the main characters, so with that in mind, I sketched out a man holding a card that says "Main Character", then it would zoom out to see him surrounded by the baddies which would then shoot their weapons but they would all completely miss the main character of course.
I have been watching old James Bond films recently, specifically the Roger Moore ones, so I wondered how I could link them into this project. My first idea was actually of just having Roger Moore's eyebrow going up and down as that was his most known characteristic of his James Bond. This sketch just shows four frames as his eyebrow goes up and down.
Sticking with James Bond, there is no missing the classic Aston Martin DB5 as used in a lot of the films, so I wondered how I could include a little bit of the car in these animations. My first idea was of taking a closer look at the gear stick with its classic button on the top that ejects the passenger seat. The sketches above show someone changing gear then flipping up the top of the gear stick revealing the eject button in all its glory, then it would change to the frames where they press the button and the passenger seat flies past the screen to complete the animation.
Another Aston Martin DB5 idea here, this time just of the headlight as it changes from the light to a mini-gun just like in the latest James Bond film 'No Time To Die'.
The one thing about James Bond that everyone would know about is the infamous intro, with the main man walking sideways across the screen until he reaches the centre where he flicks towards the camera with the handgun, then the traditional blood falls across the screen. I did some quick sketches above showing the classic intro incase I go in and actually make it into an animation.
Another sort of Film Trope within the world of James Bond is the fact that he sleeps with multiple models per film, especially in the classics, but in the films they obviously don't film the details of that, instead they film enough to make you think that they are doing what they are doing, so in this sketch I have drawn above, I have just the side of a bed, but as time goes on, different clothes are thrown over the side and onto the floor to suggest to the viewers that adult business is about to be made.
One last little sketch is another idea about Bond getting the girls, this time we start off with him shooting a bad guy and saving the damsel in distress, with which she then runs and jumps into his arms and he kicks the bedroom door close. I think that says enough to suggest what would have happened next.
I decided to make a start with actually making these animations, and the one that stood out to me the most in my sketches and in my mi nd way the actual James Bond intro as it is so recognisable and would just look really cool. I went in and screenshotted some parts of Roger Moore walking across the screen, so that I could recreate him on each step using the Pen Tool in Illustrator. Once I had him walking, it was just the case of making the classic white circles go across the screen and get bigger on the right as he enters the frame. I then made a very simplistic blood effect that would come down and cover the screen which I made using loads of rectangles which I had fully rounded and put them next to each other all at different heights and then just merged them all together to make it into one shape.
James Bond Intro:
For a first attempt in this project at an animation, I think it's safe to say that it has been a pretty good start. I created all 33 frames in Illustrator, yeah you heard that correctly, Illustrator. Illustrator is my happy place as I know what I'm doing in there, but it is surprisingly easy to create an animation in Illustrator as you work on one frame, duplicate the artboard and change it slightly and just keep going until you think you have reached the end of the animation. Even from the white circles at the start, everyone is able to recognise the infamous James Bond intro as we follow him walking across the screen before badly aiming at the camera that sees us dies really dramatically as the blood covers the screen. There were only two different character poses as he walks which actually turned out really well and I am very happy to see that.
For a first attempt in this project at an animation, I think it's safe to say that it has been a pretty good start. I created all 33 frames in Illustrator, yeah you heard that correctly, Illustrator. Illustrator is my happy place as I know what I'm doing in there, but it is surprisingly easy to create an animation in Illustrator as you work on one frame, duplicate the artboard and change it slightly and just keep going until you think you have reached the end of the animation. Even from the white circles at the start, everyone is able to recognise the infamous James Bond intro as we follow him walking across the screen before badly aiming at the camera that sees us dies really dramatically as the blood covers the screen. There were only two different character poses as he walks which actually turned out really well and I am very happy to see that.
I bought myself a Moonraker poster for my bedroom recently and there is something about the colours and the font they used in it that I really like looking at as it sums up the era of that film quite nicely, so I decided to create a very short animation using text to just say that Roger Moore is the James Bond in Moonraker, in the style of the classic trailers they would release about the film back in the day. I was scrolling through Adobe Fonts for quite a while to find a font that was close enough to the original posters until I came across this one that I felt suited it all very well. To make the three slides feel that little more weathered, I adjusted and added in a texture that changes every frame which makes it feel more authentic. The only extra thing I did for this animation was going in with the Pen Tool in Illustrator to create the gun icon that goes next to the seven in '007'.
Roger Moore Is...
This short, three slide animation is a dead simple attempt at creating the sort of thing you can see in the old trailers for films back when they were promoting the people in the films rather than the film itself. The only thing that changes throughout these three slides is simply the text and the opacity of a texture over the top to make it feel a little more weathered.
This short, three slide animation is a dead simple attempt at creating the sort of thing you can see in the old trailers for films back when they were promoting the people in the films rather than the film itself. The only thing that changes throughout these three slides is simply the text and the opacity of a texture over the top to make it feel a little more weathered.
The Subtle Escape.
My personal favourite James Bond escape is the subtle jump off a mountain in a bright yellow ski suit with a bright red parachute bag, obviously to blend in with the surroundings. As if he wasn't hidden enough, out comes the ginormous Union Flag parachute as he gently descends down the valley. This is another short animation of just four frames, three of which include Bond (if you can actually see him) moving across the background.
My personal favourite James Bond escape is the subtle jump off a mountain in a bright yellow ski suit with a bright red parachute bag, obviously to blend in with the surroundings. As if he wasn't hidden enough, out comes the ginormous Union Flag parachute as he gently descends down the valley. This is another short animation of just four frames, three of which include Bond (if you can actually see him) moving across the background.
There is no better Bond villain than Jaws, not to be confused with the shark. Anyways, I tried to find a picture of Jaws with his metal teeth out, which is surprisingly difficult as they are very low resolution images. I had the idea of making his teeth go up and down, so I went in on Photoshop and copy and pasted his mouth onto a couple different layers, this meant I could cut the teeth out and make them move up and down between each frame.
Jaw's Jaws.
I couldn't choose a the best speed for Jaw's Jaws but I think it makes everyone much happier seeing all three next to each other so these can all remain here. This is again very simple, but it works quite well, while it would be better if I had him biting something, or even having something come out of his mouth when he opens it, I think it still works in an amusing well and that is good enough for me.
I couldn't choose a the best speed for Jaw's Jaws but I think it makes everyone much happier seeing all three next to each other so these can all remain here. This is again very simple, but it works quite well, while it would be better if I had him biting something, or even having something come out of his mouth when he opens it, I think it still works in an amusing well and that is good enough for me.
I really liked the last animation but I felt like there could have been more to do with Jaws, so here is another attempt, this time making him bite the ski lift cables in Moonraker.
Cable Cart Teeth.
I couldn't help myself so I made another Jaws animation, this time of him clamping his gnashers onto the cable cart wire. I didn't feel like I needed to adjust his facial expression as it just sums up his character so perfectly, so I will let you take a moment to just admire the best Bond villain ever created.
I couldn't help myself so I made another Jaws animation, this time of him clamping his gnashers onto the cable cart wire. I didn't feel like I needed to adjust his facial expression as it just sums up his character so perfectly, so I will let you take a moment to just admire the best Bond villain ever created.
I felt like it was time to play around with some type animations, so I was going to open up Illustrator and play with some text in there, but I thought I would challenge myself and try refreshing my brain with After Effects. I taught myself how the basics worked on After Effects over lockdown but I've never done anything with text before so this was new to me. I wanted to play around with the classic catchphrase, going from word to word, however I didn't want it to just simply change from word to word, I decided to just make each word bigger as it would be said in the film in the hope that you read along with it as you watch it in the same way as they would say it in the film.
Bond, James Bond, Smooth.
Being the smooth operator that he is, it was only natural to create a very slick animation of type saying the classic strapline. I did this in After Effects so that I got the chance to confuse myself once more and so that it could come out really smooth as a 1080p MP4. How are you viewing it as a GIF you ask? Well, I dragged it into Photoshop and played with the Timeline and Video options to see what I could change to make it a GIF and there was an option to export it as a GIF so it was surprisingly easy. Nevertheless, it works really nicely as a smooth animation of a classic line from the Bond films.
Being the smooth operator that he is, it was only natural to create a very slick animation of type saying the classic strapline. I did this in After Effects so that I got the chance to confuse myself once more and so that it could come out really smooth as a 1080p MP4. How are you viewing it as a GIF you ask? Well, I dragged it into Photoshop and played with the Timeline and Video options to see what I could change to make it a GIF and there was an option to export it as a GIF so it was surprisingly easy. Nevertheless, it works really nicely as a smooth animation of a classic line from the Bond films.
The previous one was too slick for me, so as you can see in these screen grabs, I have gone in and added in some textures using the filter presets along with removing the majority of frames to make it that more rustic. With the texture, it actually changes position and opacity per frame to make it feel much more weathered.
Bond, James Bond.
This is much more like it. While I really like the other type animation, it was too smooth for me and didn't quite fit the era of James Bond that I was aiming for. By cutting down the frames quite dramatically and adding in a harsh texture over the top that slightly moves around and changes opacity, I was able to create a nice and short animation that feels slightly too Peaky Blinders. It should still be able to read well though, hopefully more in the classy Moore voice as he says the classic line "Bond, James Bond".
This is much more like it. While I really like the other type animation, it was too smooth for me and didn't quite fit the era of James Bond that I was aiming for. By cutting down the frames quite dramatically and adding in a harsh texture over the top that slightly moves around and changes opacity, I was able to create a nice and short animation that feels slightly too Peaky Blinders. It should still be able to read well though, hopefully more in the classy Moore voice as he says the classic line "Bond, James Bond".
So it is about time that I create an animation purely based on Roger Moore, this time being one where his eye's will move around as a simple little animation. I had a little chuckle as I was making the eyes move around as he looked very cross eye'd at times while I was calibrating the eyes but we got there eventually.
One thing I really liked about researching Terry Gilliam was his use of weird materials and textures, so with this animation, I have decided to go in and adjust each part of the image by adding in different textures on low opacities to make it feel like it has been botched together using different materials.
The Look Around.
This animation was quite a simple one, but quite inspired by Terry Gilliam so it makes it better. The only thing that moves in this is his eyes as he checks around the room before making some lovely eye contact with you. There are four frames in this one so it is very short, but by making one frame hold for a second or two while he makes eye contact with you, allows it to works much better than just having him constantly checking around the room.
This animation was quite a simple one, but quite inspired by Terry Gilliam so it makes it better. The only thing that moves in this is his eyes as he checks around the room before making some lovely eye contact with you. There are four frames in this one so it is very short, but by making one frame hold for a second or two while he makes eye contact with you, allows it to works much better than just having him constantly checking around the room.
I decided to take this animation a little further by having some fun with the iconic Roger Moore eyebrow movement, this time sticking to the theme of Terry Gilliam by making it move in a much more comedic way, so I had it come up, do a spin and then go back down to where it should be.
The Extreme Eyebrow.
What better way to exaggerate the infamous Roger Moore eyebrow than to have it come up and twist around. In case you haven't guessed already, this was quite heavily inspired by Terry Gilliam and the way he just moves parts around in a fun and interesting way without the need for any specific reason. I used a different texture on every part of the image as I split it all into different layers so that I could go in and change anything individually, but I only ended up moving the eyebrow as I felt that I didn't need to go too crazy with it just yet. The only thing that moves around throughout these frames is the eyes and eventually the eyebrow that goes up, has a little dance, then returns to where it belongs.
What better way to exaggerate the infamous Roger Moore eyebrow than to have it come up and twist around. In case you haven't guessed already, this was quite heavily inspired by Terry Gilliam and the way he just moves parts around in a fun and interesting way without the need for any specific reason. I used a different texture on every part of the image as I split it all into different layers so that I could go in and change anything individually, but I only ended up moving the eyebrow as I felt that I didn't need to go too crazy with it just yet. The only thing that moves around throughout these frames is the eyes and eventually the eyebrow that goes up, has a little dance, then returns to where it belongs.
I found this photo of Roger Moore having a drink and a cigarette and I just knew I needed to use it for something. What better way to do this than making his eyebrow going up and down in a Terry Gilliam sort of way? Well, I went in and cut out his eyebrow and then just moved it up and down in every slide.
Raising An Eyebrow.
Whenever you mention Roger Moore to anyone, the chances are quite high that they will go "ah yes, Roger Moore" while attempting to raise their eyebrow very dramatically. What better thing is there to do than having the infamous eyebrow going for a wander up his forehead in quite a simple yet amusing way. The image I used for this fits the Bond character quite well in my opinion as he's having a drink and we can all guess that he is looking at a pretty lady when his eyebrow does the thing. There really isn't many different frames to this one, just having the eyebrow going up then coming down doesn't take any more than 8 frames.
Whenever you mention Roger Moore to anyone, the chances are quite high that they will go "ah yes, Roger Moore" while attempting to raise their eyebrow very dramatically. What better thing is there to do than having the infamous eyebrow going for a wander up his forehead in quite a simple yet amusing way. The image I used for this fits the Bond character quite well in my opinion as he's having a drink and we can all guess that he is looking at a pretty lady when his eyebrow does the thing. There really isn't many different frames to this one, just having the eyebrow going up then coming down doesn't take any more than 8 frames.
I had a sudden brainwave of having James Bond driving down an Italian road, and how would I do that? Well, why not use Google Street View to make it feel like some sort of time lapse of Mr Bond driving down the road underneath a photo of Roger Moore driving a convertible. I have also added in the same texture as I have with several of these animations to make it feel much more rustic and the same sort of style as the films were filmed.
A Relaxed Bond.
This turned out much better than I expected, which he doesn't actually move around in this, the background does enough to make it feel like an old green screen. The thing that is more concerning is that the acting above is probably better than what you would see in some films of the era when they drove around. The texture worked really nicely over the top of this as it kind of feels like the grain that you would expect to see in the film. The only thing that moves around in this is simply the background as it switches between different screenshots on Google Street View and then the texture over the top that I moved around on each frame while also changing the Opacity.
This turned out much better than I expected, which he doesn't actually move around in this, the background does enough to make it feel like an old green screen. The thing that is more concerning is that the acting above is probably better than what you would see in some films of the era when they drove around. The texture worked really nicely over the top of this as it kind of feels like the grain that you would expect to see in the film. The only thing that moves around in this is simply the background as it switches between different screenshots on Google Street View and then the texture over the top that I moved around on each frame while also changing the Opacity.
To push the last animation much further, I have gone in and played with the idea of using the face and eyes from the animation that I did earlier when I moved the eyes of him around. I added this into the driving animation because I felt like it would be able to add in that something extra to the animation. To go even further than that, I went in and adjusted the the car in every frame t make it look like it was going up and down over the bumps in the road.
A Nervous Bond.
To advance on the last animation of a very relaxed and non moving Roger Moore, I have added in about 40 extra frames from the same bit of Street View to make it more obvious that he is driving along the very nice Italian Lake Como. In case you haven't noticed yet, I also change Moore's head to the one I used in an earlier animation so that he looked more serious and is able to look in both mirrors and looking at the road ahead to make it feel as if he is looking out for anyone following him before an overly dramatic car chase scene. In total, there are exactly 50 frames in this animation with only the background changing with each frame and the car/face moving up and down or side to side to make it feel more like something you'd expect to see in an old James Bond film.
To advance on the last animation of a very relaxed and non moving Roger Moore, I have added in about 40 extra frames from the same bit of Street View to make it more obvious that he is driving along the very nice Italian Lake Como. In case you haven't noticed yet, I also change Moore's head to the one I used in an earlier animation so that he looked more serious and is able to look in both mirrors and looking at the road ahead to make it feel as if he is looking out for anyone following him before an overly dramatic car chase scene. In total, there are exactly 50 frames in this animation with only the background changing with each frame and the car/face moving up and down or side to side to make it feel more like something you'd expect to see in an old James Bond film.