Game Project - Team Sprout 01

Week 25 - Day 1 (Holiday? What is that word?)

So, I pretty much spent the entirety of the holiday preparing for the Overload Convention, and writing up the Literature Review and drawing up some sprites and concepts for the gaming project for Team Sprout. YAY! RELAXATION!! MUCH FUN. SUCH HAPPY.

Anyway...so, I made up some sprites for fireflies (x3) to be dotted all over the place, some ember pieces (x4) of varying shapes, a spiderweb, a fire animation, and A BUNNY!!!! <3 Bunnies~~ <3 That's 10 pieces total because...there can't feasibly only be one piece of ember or one group of fireflies. The bunny can be re-painted into different colors to add more variety but I'll do that later now that I've got a basic animation of the bunny. I also made a rough background concept but it's not the best so I'm not keen on using it. Everything else is top notch, though! Whoop~

I'll add the gifs and the background concepts when I get home BECAUSE I only brought the sprites and I'd rather show the whole thing.

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TA-DA! I AM NOW HOME TO UPDATE THE BLOG ONCE MORE!

Here is the background concept. It's a bit yeecghkdjfs...

As for the rough concepts, I pretty much stuck with my initial ideas but I had to draw a few bunnies and a couple of spiderwebs just to figure out which way I was going to go. It wasn't until I was done with these that I decided, oh, a semi-realistic but "casual" approach would be nice.

Everything else after that was sussed out enough for a clean-up, color and animation. Whoo-hoo!!

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And here are all of the animated frames I've done so far. I may or may not add more as we go on with the project but for now this will work as a basic guide for the interactive background pieces.

Initially, I didn't have a "sleeping state" for the bunny but I changed my mind and decided to draw a couple more frames to make sure it'll loop nicely around and around until I click out of it again. I had 3 bunnies of slightly different styles altogether but this was the one that tugged my heartstrings the most.

I struggled a little bit with embers but I wanted fairly organic shapes as well as "sharp" edges despite using the waterbrushes. I tried to go for grey embers and then really dark embers to have a clearer glowing effect. It's supposed to loop continuously and I'm assuming that that will be the "idle" state so it's just constantly glowing in the background. Whoop!

FIREFLIES! I actually had a lot of them all over the screen but I asked Tea and we decided to cut it back by 30%. There are actually 3 layers currently visible but those layers can be split and independently animated to add a little bit more variety in the scenery.

PHEW. Also, animating fire using waterbrushes IS HARD. LIKE. I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN DO THAT AGAIN! But if need be I will. Just know that I was tear my hair out, lose a bit of sanity, probably shout at my tablet a lot...but I'll get there. X'D

In saying that, this was probably, by far, the worst of the entire lot. Not just fire animation on its' own but also for the fact that I was using a waterbrush to draw everything with. I'm quite...happy with how it turned out. I mean, the reception it received from the rest of the group was awesome so it helped boost my confidence a lot about how it would fit in the scene. I can always alter the colours a little bit if we needed to add a bunch of them together in the same area.

Spiderwebs! This will animate with a nice swaying motion that'll make it look like the wind is moving it. I had 2 concepts, 1 which I refined a little bit more while the other one was a bit too simple. I looked at a few more pictures for some ideas and I really liked this one the best simply because of the weight I could see in the lines behind it. I like that it looks like it "breathes" a little bit when it's animated so that's awesome, too.

I've got all of my sprites converted into PNG format so all that's really left to do is to turn them into animated assets in the Unity Program.

Trans-disciplinary Thinking 12

Week 24 - Day 5

So I made up a production schedule to hopefully keep to...I had a few tweaks here and there and I had to push opening and end credits to the final week of the project rather than the beginning. I thought I could just get it out of the way within the first week or so but I'm sure if I do that I'd end up going back to re-do or add things to it. I shouldn't take up too much time anyway so the final week or earlier, time permitting, will have to do~

Anyway, here's a lookie.

NEXT TERM, HERE I COME!

Trans-disciplinary Thinking 11

Week 24 - Day 4

This is my final draft for the brief I've got to submit for Dane by tomorrow~ I still have a few minor tweaks to think about and consider for the production schedule but I'll get it ready by tonight and hopefully submit it before I turn in for bed. PHEW. Anyway, here's a look at my final draft...that I'm just going to copy and paste straight from google docs...

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Cooking Montage

By Joanne Teo

TRANSDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK:

Cooking Montage will be a rotoscope 2D animated film combining techniques from a-ha’s “Take On Me” (1985) music video, the theory of Synesthesia and ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos.

In the music video “Take On Me” the actors were first filmed and then drawn over in certain frames to show not just the disparity of the real world VS the comic book world but also the eventual clash and combination of these two separate universes coming together.

Synesthesia is the perception of sounds and the written language beyond “the norm”. It is often the stimulation of a particular sense which triggers the mind and can often induce an automatic and involuntary reaction of the body. Some people can perceive sounds as “tastes” or letters and numbers in certain colors. Going in the same route, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) plays on the enjoyment of visuals and sounds. It is a “low-grade experience” of different sounds paired together with their complimentary videos meant to induce and promote a positive reaction exhibited via a “body shiver”. It can be completely visual, completely auditory, or combination of the two.

CREATIVE PROCESS:

This animation will have an amalgamation of techniques including live action, rotoscoping and 2D animation. This will explore the concept of synesthesia and ASMR, and combine it with the normal perception of food and cooking by playing with different audio files that are not normally associated with the foods that will be displayed in the animation.

Development for this project will be achieved through a minimum of:

• 15 styles of rotoscope stills
• 30 concept sketches, based on selected styles of rotoscoping
• 20 sound effect files
• Storyboard and animatic

On top of these developments, videos of the live-action clip will be needed to display use of technique and to show progress of the animation. Audio will also be included in the process of animation which will either need to be created new or sourced from royalty-free websites.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT:

By the end of this project the film will be converted into a digital video and uploaded for submission. The length of the film, not including the opening and ending titles, will be determined through the rough storyboard, animatic and the eventual testing of the footage. The projected time for the final submission is aimed to be a minimum of 30 seconds.

Due to sound design being a new subject, the project timeline will be split evenly over the eight weeks to give both the animation and sound design ample time in order to achieve a good quality video. Multiple animation and sound tests will also be conducted throughout the project to ensure the best audio-to-visual disparancy. Feedback will also be requested during this time.

Programs that will be used during the project will be Photoshop, After Effects, Audition and Animate. Equipments that will be used will include a mic and camera, both borrowed with permission from the school, space to record, a kitchen, a phone and various kitchen tools. As mentioned previously in the Creative Process, audio will most likely either be original or sourced from a royalty-free website.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:

The animation will be compiled together into a collage using video effects such as a multiple split screen to better describe the “cooking process” which will be synced with the audio sound effects to give the final submission the best audio-to-visual feedback and audience reaction.

The project will test the human perception of sights and sound; the relationship of how we view our food and the audio that is usually associated with it. While ASMR plays on the “feel good” nature of visual and audio footage, the animation will be done in a manner that gives the audience a sense of general unease instead.

The final submission will include:

• Opening title and ending credits
• Rotoscope animation
• Audio file
• Finished animation

PEER FEEDBACK:

Due to sound design being a new subject, feedback will be required during the animation process to see how well the animation aspect matches with the audio files. Constructive criticism will be asked the synchronization of the audio with the animation will also be sought along with the consistency of the rotoscoped footage, i.e. cleanliness, style, timing, etc.

REFERENCES:

Moss, L. (October 5, 2014). What is synesthesia and what’s it like to have it? Retrieved from http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-is-synesthesia-and-whats-it-like-to-have-it

Rhino. (January 6, 2010). A-ha - Take On Me (Official Video) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914

The ASMRlab. (2016). ASMR - That’s what that head tingling is. Retrieved from http://www.asmrlab.com/

Fairley, R. (October 2014). The horrors of rotoscoping. Retrieved from https://www.videomaker.com/article/f06/17164-the-horrors-of-rotoscoping

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Job done. =D

(Almost there...)

Trans-disciplinary Thinking 10

Week 24 - Day 1

For this week's exercise on Synthesizing we are asked: What is a perfect society? What does society look like when it is working at its best?

My brain immediately went to insects and bugs because they always work together as a whole. Their lives are always centered around the betterment of their community. As a hive-mind in ants and bees their main goal will always be to expand and to grow together. They are communists, in other words. The concept of communism is kind of nice but as humans, as we are currently, we are a corrupt bunch so to be a perfect society is IMPOSSIBLE. It is a pipe dream and, honestly? That kinda sucks.

Okay, first of all, I took a lot of reference from google images. I am in NO WAY CLAIMING THEM AS MY OWN, okay? I'm just using them for the sake of the exercise. Unfortunately, I stumbled across some pretty dodgy pictures so for the sake of my sanity, I'm limited by using just a handful of pictures and cobbling them together to make something fancy...And fancy I got! You can see how the bees are dressed up all nice and dapper and the praying mantis at the front is totally debonair.

I wanted to draw a market place where people are trading goods for other goods but I didn't want to spend too much time on it when I could spend it more on trying to write out the brief for next term's assessment..yay~

Anyway, here's the picture...

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LOTS OF WORK LEFT TO DO.

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I've finished the draft for the brief we're supposed to write for Dane. I've shown it to him and he said I needed to add some more things about doing animation tests during the project which I will do soon. I've also got me a production schedule going and HOPEFULLY, I can keep myself on track with this. Much horrible coming soon...but I hope I can keep up.

MORE LUCK MY WAY, PLEASE.

Trans-disciplinary Thinking 09

Week 23 - Day 4

EXQUISITE CORPSE!!! Sounds pretty gross but the concept of it is pretty amazing. I got Jerwin's frame to transform some of my animation into and I sent my first frame over to Jonathan to have some fun with. I'm not sure what he's gonna do with it but TOTES EXCITED TO SEE EVERYBODY'S RESULTS!!

Here's mine...

...Don't stare at it for too long...

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I mostly found me some Wikipedia websites describing Synesthesia and ASMR. I'll find some other websites eventually that's not wiki-related and use those for my brief instead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Auditory-tactile_synesthesia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

Also, I watched this video of Markiplier that talked VERY LOOSELY of ASMR and it was funny and partial inspiration to go for this route. WATCH IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0APwKHtdMCY

Unity 05

Week 23 - Day 2

We don some sprite animation...it was complicated and hard to follow but we got there in the end...

I have no idea how to export as a gif so a single frame is all y'all gon get.

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ASSESSMENT! GOTTA MAKE US SOME SPRITE ANIMATIONS!! YAYYDKFSHDFKJHSDFKJS

Unity 04

Week 23 - Day 2

I forgot to blog last week...so here are some unity screenshots. We made a level, albeit a small one where we've got a circle character jumping from one platform to another. I was surprised by how simple it was, although it was technically horrendous because brain hurty. Also, it made me think a lot of Super Mario Maker. X'D

After that was done I decided to have a little fun with the other bits of asset that came with the sprite sheets. So, I threw in the trees, the bushes, the fence pieces and some clouds. HUZZAH! We've got a little level that is rather reminiscent of Super Mario. XD

-plays the Super Mario theme song-