Gif testing

I have made some gifs to test certain aspects of the animation. The first shows the main character on a boat journey. Animating water is very tricky, and this needs a lot of polishing as its too jumpy to meet the 12fps that I'll be shooting to, however I'm happy that it worked out as a whole and I'm looking forward to finessing it.




These ones test how the trees will pop up, I still need to play around with this as I'm planning to pan across with the character walking with the environment popping up as new elements are explored. Trees will be the hardest as they are quite flimsy, but I think I'll be able to manage it when I've done some more tests. 

Cut outs

Here are a few images from the past week showing the sets I have been creating. I love the amount of depth I can create with these sets and I'm excited to see the characters/creatures being immersed in them. 

Inspiration

Jon Klassen always seems to be a constant source of inspiration for me, his work perfectly encapsulates the experience of a place almost suspended in time, a romanticism of Canada's outdoors. 

'The Road'. 

Here's a video he created with animator David OReilly, I love the atmosphere created in this, its very ethereal. 

 
 
Black Lake from David OReilly on Vimeo.

This video directed by Ned Wenlock for Danger Beach's 'Apache' is really refreshing, it has a wonderful flow to it, and I love the new environments winding out of the animation. The animation has traditional elements in it as if all the features are being rolled out, this isn't something I've seen before in a digital animation but it's a very captivating approach. 




Andy Kehoe is another inspiring Illustrator that I've stumbled across recently. His creatures he creates are beautifully situated in their mystical environments; its as if the viewer has stumbled across a secret moment, unbeknownst to the creatures within. 

'Profound Encounters Amid the Forest Deep.'

'Speak Again in the Deamlands.'

 'Isle of the Floating Moon.'

Here is a music video for Bon Iver's Song 'Holocene'. I love it when video and music work in perfect representation of another; the video was directed by NABIL and shows a boy exploring the vast landscapes of what I think is Iceland. Again there's the theme of romanticising nature and the exploration of a place, themes that I'm interesting in including in my work. 

Trees!

Started the set drawing today, lots of gouche trees! They'll all be individually cut out so I can space them out over the page. Lots to do!

 

Test

So here's a first test of the character walking sequence. I used paper cut outs and coloured white tac to animate it. It needs a lot of tweaking but the result is still pretty cool! 




walking 2 from Allie Oldfield on Vimeo.

Inspiration

Here are a few animations that really kick started me into this project:

This first animation was directed by Sean Pecknold and features illustrations by Stacey Rozich. I love the lighting in this; it creates a wonderful ethereal atmosphere that complements the folky music. Animation wise I love the use of the paper puppets; its so illustrative and intriguing.
The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

Here is a animation by AndersenM studio for the New Zealand Book Council. The pacing and compostion in this is so clever, it really pulls you into the story. The pop up animation is also very inspiring to me, and I'm interested in trying this out. 

 
Going West from 15 Badgers on Vimeo.

Jamie Caliri's animation for United Airlines is so beautifully fluid and thought out. His paper puppets are so complex but still retain their paper charm. 
 
United Airlines, Dragon from Jamie Caliri on Vimeo.

Here's another video he made with his sibling Dyami Caliri and a few others for Dragonframe animation software. Firstly the animation is beautifully fluid in motion, I can only wonder how long this took! The black and white is also very intriguing, it slightly reminds me of the game Limbo which also uses a similar aesthetic.
SEVEN LEGS from Mikey Please on Vimeo.

Playdead Studios: Limbo

Storyboarding

So here is a rough storyboard of my project. I'm planning to create a paper animation exploring an island and all its interesting inhabitants and terrain. 

I'm planning to use gouche to illustrate the environments, and here's a page I did testing it out. I've never used gouche before and was happily surprised with the results! I can't wait to create the sets.