11 SECOND CLUB: NOVEMBER ENTRY

The head scientist returns to an experiment gone horribly wrong...

NOTES

While I started the shot in November 2008, I didn't finish it until May 2009. The break between provided a much needed focus on simplicity to get the shot done.

WORKFLOW

My workflow has been wavering a bit lately. I've been saying "that's not quite what I wanted" on reviewing my work. I had initial ideas for how I wanted something to look, but after making it, it would look different. The product was not focused on that original instinct that I dreamed about before I started tinkering away. I would essentially wander off and play with other things in the shot. There has been not enough focus during the making process.

So, with this project I wanted to improve my workflow, increasing my speed to both ground the style and improve the feasibility of future personal projects. The result is in the staging, where only one character is the focus; animation, built around a few poses with non-realistic movement; and art style, where colour is the only thing controling the appearance of forms and light.

IDEA

In November, I wanted to capture my idea for the shot. In doing so, I created alot of problems. Many unneeded things were planned to be added. In May, I wanted to be constantly focused on the requirements of the shot.

When I began, the premise I chose was about a scientist who had saved a woman from a group of other scientists attempting to duplicate her. Some feedback at the time was that this premise is too complicated. It was, but at the time, I thought it would work anyway.

However, coming back to it I've optimised the premise to be about a scientist who has attempted (but failed) to save a woman from a group of other scientists. Its simplifies so much! The woman is now a smouldering pile of ash, the main character is more grounded in his role, and the background characters are no longer required for the shot.

SMOLDERING WOMAN

I wanted to make sure the you can read the background image to understand the premise. After hearing the woman referenced in the audio, I used bright red heels, strange stylised smoke effects, and a rather illustrative graphic with lines to draw the eye in to see the smouldering pile. I tried to make the effect rather expressive as a gag in a cartoon, exaggerated and rediculous so as to avoid any sense of horror.

You still need to see the laser contraption and the switch, so I made their colours stand out a little more as well.

BACKGROUND

The background was created in a timesaving manner, and consisted of only a foreground and background. The design is simple, with mostly muted colours to avoid distracting from the main character.

Both the background elements are very separate, allowing me to move them around quickly and easily without affecting the animation. I found this to be a useful tool; the background was much closer, but I dragged it further away to increase the image depth.

Everything is geared towards fast render times. Antialiasing is also switched off, as to avoid being distracted by the image quality. The geometry is also view dependant, as to avoid being distracted by creating content that won't be seen. I was creating things using the pre-determined camera view and only focusing on what needs to be created.

RESULT

I feel that I was focused throughout the shot production more so than in previous projects. I kept asking myself what is needed, while keeping the finish line in sight. The simplistic art style helped to keep the making process fast and spontaneous, and I think it looks pretty good. It's nice to complete a whole shot (albeit barebones) with coloured background, effects, and character art rather than just the animation element.

The animation itself I think could have been a little cleaner, but for this project I think it's ok. I'm wanting to speed up this workflow as well, so I'll be focusing on utilising more distinct animation styles in future projects.

Looking forward to getting stuck into the next one!