Light Writing Effect:
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rabinowitz_aharon/Light_Writing_Pt_1/video-tutorial
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rabinowitz_aharon/Light_Writing_Pt_2/video-tutorial
This tutorial utilized a Displacement Map as well as Strokes and Fast Blurs, with great emphasis on Expressions.
For the light writing's wiggle I gave each object a Displacement Map (Effect > Distort > Displacement Map) that was set to a Fractal Noise Comp (Effect > Noise and Grain > Fractal Noise). I also used a Wiggle expression on each object's position, rotation and scale as well to further the effect.
The stars' and moon's shapes were copy and pasted paths from Illustrator onto separate solids as masks. I set the stroke's (Effect > Generate > Stroke) brush for each stroke to be about 6 and knocked the hardness down to zero, paint style to transparent. I would then change the layer's blend mode to Add to mesh it more with the background.
Besides the stroke paths' start and end, I also used some randomized lights that also follow the objects path, layering each stroke to achieve the blurry, almost sci-fi phaser type look.
To complete the glowiness of the moon and stars, I gave each of them reflections which are duplicated, flipped comps that have a variety of effects on top of them to make them appear soft, including the bezier warp (Effect > Distort > Bezier Warp) and linear wipe (Effect > Transition > Linear Wipe).
Mostly with this tutorial I learned that expression are for more than looping and are good ways to further manipulate effects without having to apply more effects onto one layer (example: using the wiggle expression instead of using the Wiggler.) I also liked that it worked a lot with Blend Modes, which feel more familiar to me as someone who uses them a great deal in Photoshop to achieve the looks I want. Also, the magic of Pre-Comping shall not go unrecognized! Pre-Comps really helped clean up my Comps and made them more manageable, way less overwhelming. Overall, I really enjoyed the tutorial on Creative Cow. The guy (Aharon Rabinowitz) wasn't overly chatty and was very thorough when explaining each step. I also appreciated that he reiterated keyboard shortcuts, very helpful! I liked this project and look forward to using more effects.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Typography Project
For this project I'll be using the font characters as texture and form. The piece will be black and white with some gray tones. The letters, numbers, and symbols will be used for their aesthetic shapes, as in, the letters won't be saying anything themselves. The plot will be a mermaid swimming in the ocean and encountering different sea creatures. Below are videos utilizing some techniques I would like to use. Also, here is my mermaid character:
New York Times: Turkish Edition from Quba Michalski on Vimeo.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Midterm Breakdown
Story:
A girl wakes up in a strange forest. Her bed is surrounded by trees and it's nightfall. As she sits up and gets her barrings, a skeletal squirrel jumps on the bed covers, startling her. The squirrel tells her that it isn't safe for humans here and that she should try to get back to wherever it is she came from. As she tries to get up and away from the squirrel, more animals start appearing. They tell her that the reason it is unsafe for her to be there is that the spirit deer that rule these woods are committing mass murders amongst the animal population. She asks why they are doing such a terrible thing and they tell her it is because they are missing their ancient totem that helps the water follow in the woods (they are currently in a drought). She asks them animals why they don't try to help the deer, but the animals refuse to see the deer's side. She decides to find the deer and help them, even though the animals are pulling on her clothes and trying to get her to stay.
She wanders through the forest, following the north star to find her way to the where the deer are. Soon she is surrounded by them and they demand to know why she seems to have knowingly walked into their territory. She tells them that she wants to help them retrieve their totem and restore peace back to the forest, despite how menacing the deer act toward her. Before the deer shake off her help and tell her that they will eat her flesh, the elder deer (differentiated by grand antlers) interrupts them. He accepts her help and tells her where to find the totem. He also explains how only the hands of a human can move the totem,
and also explains that the totem was moved many moons ago by a mischievous child who visited their realm.
She begins to make her way to the center of the forest, the last place the totem was seen. One of the younger deer was told to follow her and protect her. Once they arrive upon a clearing with the totem placed in the middle, they witness lightening striking a tree and creating a fire. The young deer tells her that the totem has the restorative power of water and that they need to turn the tap. After fending off the fire the best they can, they are able to turn the tap and the water spews out of each of the totems three mouths, calming the fire.
They return the totem to the deer, and when place into a hollowed tree trunk, the grass and trees rejuvenate and became supple and lush once more. The animals also fatten up again and look like emaciated and freaky. The girl is happy for them, but is so tired from pushing the totem back to the deer's lair that she collapses on the ground and falls asleep. She then wakes up in her room at home, and sees the young deer outside her window.
Characters:
Girl (Madeleine) - She helps the deer return the state of the forest. Even though she is thrown into this weird world, she is very headstrong and impulsive. She also wants to prove herself by saving something and returning order. Her one flaw would be that she is very sassy and talks back often.
Young Deer (Fiona) - She accompanies Madeleine on her journey to retrieve. She reflects the more passionate and human-like side of the deer and also works as character that Madeleine can relate to (similar age).
The Spirit Deer- This race of deer protect the forest and maintain the totem that gives the forest water. While antagonistic and aggressive, they are really just scared for the forest and can only find solace through performing violence.
The Forest Animals - They fear the deer because of their killing spree. Alternatively, they give the deer no credit for maintaining the forest thus far and just remain ignorant and scared instead of actually helping.
Story Diagram:
A girl wakes up in a strange forest. Her bed is surrounded by trees and it's nightfall. As she sits up and gets her barrings, a skeletal squirrel jumps on the bed covers, startling her. The squirrel tells her that it isn't safe for humans here and that she should try to get back to wherever it is she came from. As she tries to get up and away from the squirrel, more animals start appearing. They tell her that the reason it is unsafe for her to be there is that the spirit deer that rule these woods are committing mass murders amongst the animal population. She asks why they are doing such a terrible thing and they tell her it is because they are missing their ancient totem that helps the water follow in the woods (they are currently in a drought). She asks them animals why they don't try to help the deer, but the animals refuse to see the deer's side. She decides to find the deer and help them, even though the animals are pulling on her clothes and trying to get her to stay.
She wanders through the forest, following the north star to find her way to the where the deer are. Soon she is surrounded by them and they demand to know why she seems to have knowingly walked into their territory. She tells them that she wants to help them retrieve their totem and restore peace back to the forest, despite how menacing the deer act toward her. Before the deer shake off her help and tell her that they will eat her flesh, the elder deer (differentiated by grand antlers) interrupts them. He accepts her help and tells her where to find the totem. He also explains how only the hands of a human can move the totem,
and also explains that the totem was moved many moons ago by a mischievous child who visited their realm.
She begins to make her way to the center of the forest, the last place the totem was seen. One of the younger deer was told to follow her and protect her. Once they arrive upon a clearing with the totem placed in the middle, they witness lightening striking a tree and creating a fire. The young deer tells her that the totem has the restorative power of water and that they need to turn the tap. After fending off the fire the best they can, they are able to turn the tap and the water spews out of each of the totems three mouths, calming the fire.
They return the totem to the deer, and when place into a hollowed tree trunk, the grass and trees rejuvenate and became supple and lush once more. The animals also fatten up again and look like emaciated and freaky. The girl is happy for them, but is so tired from pushing the totem back to the deer's lair that she collapses on the ground and falls asleep. She then wakes up in her room at home, and sees the young deer outside her window.
Characters:
Girl (Madeleine) - She helps the deer return the state of the forest. Even though she is thrown into this weird world, she is very headstrong and impulsive. She also wants to prove herself by saving something and returning order. Her one flaw would be that she is very sassy and talks back often.
Young Deer (Fiona) - She accompanies Madeleine on her journey to retrieve. She reflects the more passionate and human-like side of the deer and also works as character that Madeleine can relate to (similar age).
The Spirit Deer- This race of deer protect the forest and maintain the totem that gives the forest water. While antagonistic and aggressive, they are really just scared for the forest and can only find solace through performing violence.
The Forest Animals - They fear the deer because of their killing spree. Alternatively, they give the deer no credit for maintaining the forest thus far and just remain ignorant and scared instead of actually helping.
Story Diagram:
Storyboard:
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Concept for Midterm
So, after reviewing my previously posted proposal, I am going to continue with my idea of narratives involving a child going from reality to a fantasy land to go on a quest, complete some task that changes them in some way, and returns back to reality a changed character. With my narrative, it will be a little girl who falls asleep and dreams of stark, nightmarish forest. Soon after she enters this forest, she becomes surrounded by these emaciated skeleton deer creatures. After becoming trapped them, a chief deer (distinguished by his impressive antlers) appears from the shadows and tells her that in order to spare her life and risk never returning home to her bed, she must go into the heart of the woods and retrieve the sacred totem of their pack; only a human can touch the totem. So, she must embark on a journey to get the totem back and return to her sleeping body.
The basic idea is a little girl turning her nightmare back into a normal dream that also parallels as a journey of self-discovery. It will executed in a cutout style that is also animated as though it is a pop-up book. This includes the assets in each scene appearing as though tabbed through a book page and some parts of the book unfolding or expanding. It will be a minimal color palette that looks as though it is drawn on paper bag material with the only fill and line colors being white and black. There may almost be some very muted, chromatic grays if deemed necessary. All of the rigging will also have images of brads superimposed over the joints to appear as based in the real world as possible.
Concept images:
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