New approach MA proposal

With changes, come new proposals:

3. Short description of the project

First off,  I will create a character from scratch to finish for an upcoming fictional fantasy game. This character will be designed by using game design techniques like sketching, thumbnailing and rendering. I will finish the design by making it ready for 3D,  with an orthographic layout from all sides. 

Next to that, this game will have a promotional campaign which includes an animated story trailer. The purpose of this trailer will explain the backstory of the character. I will visually adapt the aforementioned game character for this animated trailer and see if I can keep it consistent. IMPORTANT: I won't make an actual animation, just the visual pre-visualization artwork which is required to get the character across, like expression sheets, orthographic views and storyboards. 

Last, but not least, I will create a blueprint for a promotional action figure of this game character. This is the ultimate test for every character designer; how well does your design translate to the real world? 

So in short; I will create a game character from scratch and adapt it for an animated trailer and an action figure as well. The end result of this project will be an art guide which documents the different design approaches for these different products and what game artists should look out for when they decide to take their characters across different media. 

6. Description focus of supportive narrative:

In the supportive narrative I will research and analyze the design approaches of animation and toy making and compare them to my current design techniques for games. By researching their approach to character design I hope to inform my current skills and create better designed artwork in the process. 

7. Interconnection between graduation project and supportive narrative:

During the project I will create a character and adapt it for different media. The findings on the presumably differing design approaches of animation and toy making will provide insight on how to adapt this character across different media while keeping it consistent. 

Why this new approach?

Over the last couple of years I've seen a development where games like World of Warcraft and Assassin's Creed take their IP across different media like books, animation and comic books. Games aren't just games anymore; they expand their worlds and stories using these older well established forms of media. These products expand on the original game and enriches its world and characters. 

This crossmedia approach provides more design opportunities for the Game Artist and to think about his or her designs under a new light. The big question is; How do you visually adapt your game character and its world to other creative media like animation, film or comic books while keeping it consistent? 

Project update: A new direction (yes, again)

It has been awfully quite on this blog and I think it is time to get rid of that non-productive silence.

I've been trying to get started on something, but found myself constantly blocked by the fear of creating something without a clear direction. I don't like that, I always like to have some idea, concept or direction in the back of my mind when I start working on something.

Since I came back from Sweden things haven't been easier. In Sweden I had a lot of time to think about new ideas or directions but it didn't really come to me. 

I started to think about researching the difference in the bottom-up or the top-down method when it comes to visual design, and then infuse the latter one with animation design principles. It is an interesting idea to combine these two, but to what end? What is the relevance of this approach? And isn't a bit too forced? 

So after talking to a lot of people trying to communicate what I wanted to research things were still vague and convoluted and I felt a bit down. Maybe I was trying too hard to find ways to incorporate the visual design elements of animation into the design process of games. Again, an interesting idea, but these two media are just too far apart in that sense. It all comes down to one major difference: Interactivity. Designing for a passive medium and an interactive medium is a whole different ballgame.

So, I called my buddy Joeri again, always a great help in these kind of situations. During the conversation we suddenly came across an interesting and pretty straightforward idea. It goes a bit like this; 

I will create a typical game character for a fictional fantasy game series, for example a warrior or an archer. Then, as a fictional promotion for this game, there will be a short animation explaining the background story of this character. And as an extra gift, there will be a statue included of this same character. 

With this project setup, I will create a character with the trusty game design techniques which I have developed here during my time at the HKU. This is a solid base to work from and will be a recognizable starting point. Then, I will adapt this character for a short animation, which requires another design approach and will probably lay a bigger emphasis of the narrative side of things. Then, at the end I will have to create a blueprint for the statue, which requires another way of thinking about your design. And maybe, if I have enough time, I will research on how to do adapt it for a comic as well. But only if I have time and it proves to be of added value. 

So, instead of trying to force the animation part of my project, it will be a part of the greater good. Also, this way, my prior research is still of great value and nothing is lost. So, the next step is to start drawing and thinking up a character to translate to these different dimensions!

An example of creative promotion; Prince of Persia Penny Arcade Story trailer

A couple of years ago I saw this promotion video for the back then new entry into the Prince of Persia series, simply called Prince of Persia (4) (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-penny-prince-of/43932).

I really liked the style of this video (done by the creators of Penny Arcade) and it sucked me in, making me quite excited for this new game.

Technically it isn't exactly an animation. It's a very nice decorated slideshow, but it does have that animation flair and it is a nice way to explain the backstory of the game. Also using a different style really complemented the game it was based on, which also had a unique visual style. 

Status update: A quick brainfart

**just a quick brainfart about the new direction of my project. I'm going to make it even more practical, since after talking to Corne it seems like the only way to go**

Notion #1: I've always been very interested in the applications of other creative fields. I think this is because of my background in graphic design which I take to the creative realm of games. Especially in my school projects I've always tried to give the games something special, a kind of visual flair not often found in games.  

Notion #2: Because games are still a very young medium, I think there is still a lot to be learned from these older, more well established fields. 

Notion #3: As a game artist, I think it is always relevant to inform your work with different influences. Too many game artists wear their influences too much on their sleeves and don't stray too far from the beaten paths of the standardized fantasy and sci-fi clichés. 

Notion #3: Thanks to the rise of the digital medium a very interesting development has occurred; The tools that all these creative mediums use are the same. The borders seem to get vaguer with every technological leap. 

Notion #4: The thing that separates them are the different design approaches they apply. Is there anything between these different approaches that can be interesting for the game artist? And if so, how do they translate to games? 

Notion #5: So for this thesis I delved in to the different design approaches of the animation field, the graphic design field, children's book and illustration. 

For this project I will create a character and design it for these different media. By researching these different approaches I hope to find a way to inform my current game design skills and see if there is any overlap between these fields. 

Notion #6: The reason I'm focusing on characters is because they are common in all these media. It's also easier to research the different approaches concerning character design, because they are present in all these medias. 

Let's take some archetypes from games and see if I can design them for these different fields, each with their own approach and techniques. What happens to the character hopping across these different fields and how does this influence the design process?

First image!

The first image is made! A quick sketch of the setting and direction I want to take this subject; Kids vs the Monsters from under their beds (nightmares!) 

Gamasutra article on Bottom-Up and Top-Down approach

An interesting article on the top-down and bottom-up approach. Only drawback is that the article is written from a game designer's perspective.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130542/game_design_cognition_the_.php?print=1

Another interesting article about these two approaches. And most importantly, pros and cons.

http://whatgamesare.com/2011/03/visual-vs-action-oriented-design-game-design.html

Questionnaire answers

Questionnaire answers

**Note to self: Here are the answers of the questionnaire which I did last friday. I think it was very interesting, I got some insight about how animators tend to work I guess. Most of the things I thought about how they would approach visual design tended to rang true. But still there were some surprises. What I found most interesting is how everything revolves around the character. Everything seems to flow from that. The character with its characteristics and traits. That seems to be vital to every design process for an animation.**   

1. What is the major difference between designing for games and for animation according to you?

2. On what exactly lies the emphasis when designing for an animation?

3. How do you decide on a visual style for an animation? 

And how exactly does the accompanying creative design process work?

4. To what degree you take the enduser into account while making an animation?

5. Which design techniques for animation do you think could be of great benefit to games?

School related questions

6. Do you work in groups or individually?

7. What kind of course material are you offered during your education? 

Additional questions

8. Would you mind working for a games company? And if not, why exactly? 

9. What do you think about the current state of animation in games?

10. Have you recently seen a game which caught your attention? And if so, why? 

Tom Mourik – 4^th Year animation student
1. One of the most important differences is that with animation everyone revolves around movement. “How can I animate this” is a question we animators ask ourselves quite often. We think about the three dimensional shapes of the characters and the expressions that they need to have to convey the story. 

2. It definitely lies on emotion and the narrative you want to get across. Also the main character and his or hers characteristics are very important. This is most of the time the  main focal point during the visual design process for an animation.

3a. We look for a lot of inspiration by looking at work of others. The way that someone uses forms and lines can be very interesting. I try to combine all these different elements into my own work. Also if an animation uses a certain technique that I find interesting, I will try to implement in some way or the other. To be honest, I don’t really think it about it that thoroughly. 

3a. The process? I look at examples of other artwork of other animations. I will try to take these influences and come up with an unique style where my own hand is visible. For example for this project our main character is going to ride through a Mediterranean village, so I will look at a lot of real life reference of photos from Italy and France. It’s a top down approach; I will start doing realistic studies and then I will take these and stylize them. Rinse and repeat. 

4.This may sound weird, but with us it is definitely a case of what you find aesthetically pleasing. But, one of the most important things is that the audience get what you are trying to tell them. That they can relate to what is happening on the screen. But no, we don’t really have a set target audience in mind while making an animation.

5. I think that games could benefit a lot of looking at smaller, more ‘animation’ flavoured projects like the latest Rayman Origins game and the old game Neverhood. I mean, Skyrim looks great, but the movement flow is so rigid and straightforward. Same with Mass Effect 3. Both titles are also very uncanny valley, which throws me off.

6. Mostly individual. But for this last animation project, I’m working in a team of 4 people. 

7. We got different classes throughout the years.  We got one about the animation principles like squash and stretch, which of course is vital for every aspiring animator. Also got some Photoshop introduction class, but that one was not very useful. Most of the time we implement the class material  during making our own short films, like storyboarding and the aforementioned animation principles. 

8.No, not really. Maybe if I desperately need some cash.

9. In most games the animation is quite rigid. You can literally see the transitions from one animation to the other, like a changing of ‘states’. This really bugs me and should be improved.  

10.Mass Effect3 has recently caught my eye. But mainly because of its epic scale. That is quite impressive. 

Additions:
I can’t stress it enough but when it comes to character design for animation it’s all about feasibility. This factor keeps things simple and forces you to go to the bare essentials of the design. And for readability’s sake, that is always a good thing.

Another thing that is quite important is what kind of movie you are making. This plays a decisive role for the development of the visual style. We learn a lot about semiotics, or film language. There are a lot of rules about staging and camera techniques which you can use to enforce your visual design. 

Jessy Suharyanto – 4^th Year animation student

1. I don’t really know. Most of the time we do free films, where everything is closely related to yourself. I think that is a big difference.

2. It all starts with a character. That is the pivot point of every animation. A character has a personality and character traits, and this should reflect in his or her visual design. Also the feasibility of the character is very important. That is why most animation is very stylized or ‘cartoony’. 

3. As I said, it’s all about the story and the character you want to convey. And you don’t want something realistic, so you start to stylize the proportions to something characteristic, suited for the character you want to portray.

3a. Just like Tom Mourik said.

4.Well, I worked on a Klokhuis (a Dutch kids TV show) where our target audience was 4 up ‘till 12 years old. We had to do a little research. The project itself was mainly scripted with spoken dialogue, so that wasn’t too hard. 

Another project I’ve done is the Klik Project. This was very open and we could focus on designing something with an own aesthetic. So it varies, but it always remains very open to us.
 
5. I’m not sure… I don’t know enough about games to give you a good answer. 

6. That is a choice for you to make. I currently work in a group of 4 people, but there are a lot of people who work alone. 

7. Well, as Tom said we get a lot about animation principles and semiotics. Also, in the 2^nd year, we got a character design class. We had to make 3 character designs and 10 backgrounds. When we had these, we had to shuffle them around and design different stories around them. 

8. No, that’s not something for me. 

9. Well, to be honest, it’s horrible. Human characters are always… meh. I don’t think that Mocap really wins it from real animation. Animation isn’t about reality, but about credibility. 

10. Grim Fandango. I saw a trailer and I wanted to play it. Such a great visual style, so different from the rest. I’ve got the same with the upcoming Journey title. Looks great and I definitely want to play it.

Additions:
I don’t play any games any more. But when I was growing up I played games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Rayman. They really spoke to me with their quirky characters and wacky storylines. They had character.

Also, there is a bit of a ‘war’ going on between the 2D and the 3D animators. The 2D artist like me are more about the story and the visual design, while the 3D animators lay bigger emphasis on technique. They will

Thijs Viegers – 4^th Year animation student

1. I think that with both animation and games there is a high technical factor present. With games it’s mostly about engines and software requirements. With animation it’s more about feasibility. You can come up with something and create whatever you like, but in the end you will have to animate it. And that is always the great challenge. If you can’t animate it, there is something wrong. 

Animators quite often work alone, so whatever you make you’ll have to keep this in mind. This will reflect on the design of things.The visual style and how you cope with those restrictions are very important. With games that is less of a problem because nowadays most of the time there are big teams behind it.

Also, animation hasn’t changed much in 100 years. We can rely on old and trusty methods, whereas games are still evolving and trying out new things.

 I think in that respect old games do this quite well because they were so restricted. I remember Monkey Island games very fondly with their clever graphics, animations and characters.

2. One of the things that really important is how you character looks like and how it moves.  His actions and his acting, through simplification, can really help to sell a story.

3. Designing for an animation mostly revolves around deadlines and pure planning. These two factors have great implications on the visual design. Simplicity is king. A lot of constraints make a project feasible and require creative solutions. That doesn’t mean we need to draw a lot to get there, just like Tom (Mourik) said.

3a. See 3.

4. School says that we have to think about our target audience. But most of the time it is really up to us, the creators. We decide how it looks like and what we want the viewer to see. Junaid, a classmate of ours, is a big fan of cartoons so his latest work ‘Sheeped Away’ has that classic cartoony feel. In the end the target audience is not of the biggest importance, but the acting and the quality of the animation is.
 
5. I think that they should focus on smaller games in the games industry. Then they will maybe come up with different styles because they have less to worry about. 

6. What Tom Mourik said.  

7. What Tom Mourik said.  

8. Well, games are getting more cinematic with the years, so that makes it more and more interesting to work for them. As soon they will give the narrative a bigger role in the whole, I will consider it. 

Oh, do you remember the Earthworm Jim SNES game? They had a team of traditional animators working on the animations of the main character and enemies. That sounds really cool and a great way to crossover.

9. A lot of games use mocap nowadays. I’m not necessarily a big fan of this technique because realism isn’t that interesting. But, mocap is getting better so who knows? Another thing that really bugs me is the so called ‘’idle’’ animations in games. They are always so bad, forced and completely unnecessary. The only good example I can think of are the animations in The Legend of Zelda:  The Wind Waker. Link will look at nearby objects if you don’t have anything to do. This feels ‘natural’ and maybe give an hint. A great way to use this ‘technique’. 

10. Ehm, Max Payne looks very promising. I was always a big fan of this series. It has a great storyline and characters, I think that this sets it apart from a lot of games.

Additions:
I often play games. I think that in narrative sense there still is a lot to explore with games. You see that smaller games (indie games) do this quite well. There lies an opportunity.

Ben Vinkenburg - 4^th Year animation student

1. The designs in animation all have a function in the story. The way your background looks, the way you use lightning. It all plays a bigger role in the whole. Also the metamorphosis principle, the ability of an image to change into another image, plays a big role in the story. That is I think the biggest difference between the two.  

2. All the visual designs should strengthen the narrative. If you portray people, how do they look like? What do you want say? You can device your own rules within your own world. Just keep the design in mind during the making of an animation.

3. The visual design comes from the kind of story you want to tell. If it’s a sad story, it will look different from an upbeat, happy story.

3a. The accompanying process, like Tom Mourik says, comes from a lot of research on how things work in the real world. Then we take that, and stylize that. Put our spin upon it. 

4. I don’t really work with a target audience in mind. What is important, does the viewer understand what I’m trying to tell him? There should be no doubt about that at all.
 
5. Games should use their graphic design more to portray their narrative instead of laying the emphasis on realism. Big entertainment games tend to lose that along the line. A character should have certain characteristics which should be used to solve the games’ puzzles.

6. It depends on how you like to work. 

7. See Tom’s and Jesse’s answers. 

8.Nope. 

9. My biggest complaint in general is the realism games are striving for. Even Sci-Fi and Fantasy games are steeped in realism, even though are based on fictional stuff. They shouldn’t be bound the rules of realism. 

10. Shadow of the Colossus. Great atmosphere and great visual choices. It stands on its own. I also like old adventure games, they had their own distinctive charm. Especially Sam & Max. When you play that game, you really have this feeling you are pushing the narrative forward. It avoids clichés with its weird setting and characters. Also, this world has its own wacky rules. It’s not about realism. You need to understand these rules so you can solve the puzzles. This is an awesome approach to things. 

Katamari (that weird Japanese game where you roll balls around)  is also a great example. It doesn’t look mind blowing or anything, but it works in its own created context. It creates its own world with wacky characters, rules and atmosphere, devoid of anything realistic.
 
Additions:
One of the reasons I crossed over from games to animation was the bigger creative freedom. 

Also, I can recommend looking at old animations, before the digital age. Especially when it comes to visual design combined with the narrative. Interesting stuff. 

Florian Walraven – 2^nd year animation Student

1. I think that the major difference between designing for a game and animation is that designing for animation is really personal. What do you like to make? What do your prefer to make and is there an underlying connection?

2. You have a short time to tell your story, so it is all about readability. People have to know your premise right away so you better use some clichés. If someone is not fit, make him or her really fat. That kind of stuff, really.   

3. My sketchbook is my main starting point. For every assignment we do a lot of sketching, and that is where we head off.

3a. I’m currently working on my second year animation project. We do some repertoire research and choose 10 animations of other animators that we like. We try to look if there is an overlapping them between them. Than we return to our sketchbook and try if we can find a way to combine all these influences. Then we show it to our teachers and they will probably have something to say about it. Is it readable/understandable? After that, we make an animatic with sound. If that is reading OK, we can actually start on the animation itself.

4. It has to be readable! Everyone should be able to understand. That is more important to us than a specific target audience.

5. I think that using design principles of animation for games can really enforce the atmosphere and ‘feel’ of the game. If an action in the game has an appropriate and maybe even exxagurated animation, it definitely feels better. 

6. Individual.

7. The classes about the animation principles are the best. You get a lot of solid feedback during these hours when you are working away on an animation.

Also, we have some great teachers. Egbert de Ruiter always gives a lot of general feedback about how your animation looks and what it conveys. He makes you think about what you are making.

Another one, Roelof, is more of a traditional animator and emphasizes readability.

Last, but not least, Peter Wassink is our TV Paint teacher. He also talks a lot about the basic animation principles. Very helpful.

8. I would like to, as a 2D animator. I like working with sprites and pixels, you get pleasing results quite quickly.

9. I think it is crap. Mocap is making things more realistic, but not better. Punches for example most of the time lack impact. This could be improved by adding more animation principles like anticipation.

But, there are some good examples out there. For example the horse in Shadow of the Colossus looks fantastic.

10. I like to play StarCraft 2, for its quick gameplay. And I’m looking forward to Journey. That game looks amazing!

Additions:

I play games. I also create games. I created Stanley in Slumberland. Funny thing, I didn’t animate or draw anything for that. 

Research book #3: Ideas for the Animated Short by Karen Sullivan, Gary Schumer and Kate Alexander

This book is all about how you can approach designing and producing a short movie. At first I thought this wasn’t the most relevant book of the lot. Turns out there were still some interesting notes and quotes hidden in this surprisingly informative book. Here are the most interesting lines from the book. 

• Quote John Tarnoff, Head of Show Development, DreamWorks Animation; “Animated short films provide even more opportunity to engage the viewer. Animated films are distinguished by the uniqueness of their artwork, and this completely invented and imagined aspect is what sets animated shorts so resolutely apart from live-action shorts. This is your challenge and your opportunity in the realm of animation – a realm where it takes both a graphical, painterly talent (and skill), in addition to a photographic, cinematic, and narrative inspiration. Because an animated film has so many more visual possibilities than a live-action film, the bar is significantly raised for the animation filmmaker to attempt something truly integral and affecting.”

• Quote Jeff Fowler, Blur Studios; “The moral being, your idea will almost always grow beyond its original scope, both technically and creatively. (For better or worse!) By starting simple, you allow yourself and your idea room to expand naturally, which is a MUCH more enviable place than committing to a large and convoluted idea which you may ultimately be forced to slice and dice for one reason or another. (Money, time, resources.) Better to start simple and build!”

• Create a Memorable Character
• They are ordinary enough for the audience to relate to them. They are flawed. Their flaws make them concurrently unique and accessible
• There is “something” about their design and their personality that makes us want to know more about them and makes us empathize with their plight. This is called appeal
• In the short, we rarely even know the character’s name. Still, they stick with us for the same reasons. Memorable characters are the characters that we care about. 
• The test of a good character is that he cannot be replaced in the story with someone or something else. Replaceable characters are flat. You can swap them out (a boy for a girl) or a squirrel for a squid) and it doesn’t seem to matter to the story; but, when you find the right character, it is difficult to extract him from the story because it is his story
   
• Character design
• A well designed character has the following characteristics:
• It will be immediately recognizable and relatable
• It will have a recognizable shape or silhouette
• It will reflect the personality of the character
• It will have physical attributes that complement the content of the story
• It will be able to complete the actions that are required by the script
• It will be interesting to watch
  
  
• Tom Bancroft’s four main principles of character design
• Personality
• A cute little bear vs a bear that is kind of lazy and only motivated to go fishing (his one big love) etc. Knowing what you are designing is job one
• Goals
• It’s important to know what, why, and how you want to design this character. Make some goals. Do you for example want it to be cute or just appealing (there is a difference)
• Shapes
• What shapes make up this character? If it’s a happy, thick character, I will start working with circle shapes. 
• Variance
• Using shapes and size in various ways to create different designs. 

• Staging in film refers to the way we present an image or an action for our audience. We plan how something is seen and experienced so that the audiences gets the story point.
  
  
• Quote Kendal Cronkhite, DreamWorks Animation; “We read the script, the treatment, and then break it down and start to design the movie that visually tells that particular story. I often start by doing the visual structure on the film. This is a visual map that follows the drama. I use line, shape, space, and color to enhance what’s going on in our story. For example, it it’s a movie about coming home again I may use circles as a design element throughout. If there are emotional highs and lows, I may enhance those moods with light and darkness. If it’s a traveling film, I may choose to use deep space and focus. After this visual map is created, we go into each set and sequence in greater detail. We also look for the style for the film. Is it a comedy or drama. Is it a certain time period? All these questions are asked and answered visually.”

Research Book #2: Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger

This is a book about how to create, as its title claims, ‘unforgettable’ characters for films, TV series, advertisements, novels and short stories. Although its focus is on writing, there were some interesting bits here and there which I can probably use for my project. Not everything was useful, so that may explain why I skip a couple of chapters.

 Here’s a little overview of the chapters of the book; 

• Reseaching the character
• Defining the character Consistencies  and Paradoxes
• Creating the Backstory
• Understanding Character Psychology 
• Creating Character relations
• Adding Supportive and Minor characters
• Writing 
• Dialogue
• Beyond Stereotyping
• Solving Character problems

Chapter 1

• General vs Specific research
• Context: A character is a product of his or her environment
• Context is a like an empty cup of coffee; the cup is the context. The coffee is the character
• Contexts that most influence character include culture, historical period, location and occupation

Chapter 2

• Getting the first idea observation or experience
• Creating the first broad strokes
• Finding the core of the character in order to create consistency
• Finding the paradoxes within the character to create complexity
• Adding emotions, attitudes and values to further round out the character
• Adding details to make the character specific and unique 

• A physical description can be quite evocative; ‘A sweet-faced guy who’s probably done his job for too long’
• Keep the core of the character consistent!
• For example; Professor Religion Early Christianity
• Has earned a PHD; is very knowledgeable about a lot of areas like history, culture
• Probably also has a liberal arts background and used to follow a lot of courses and other extra-curricular activities.
• Creating a character paradox, for example; A domestic, homely type that doesn’t do much during the week. But then, in the weekends, partakes in heavy physical activities with friends and gets wasted
• Adding character details, for example; A professional full grown woman who wears earrings shaped like boomerangs, bananas and flamingos 
• Adding character details also refers to specific actions, behaviors, use of language and gestures 

Chapter 3

• A character biography might include; 
• Physiology (age, sex, posture)
• Sociology (class, occupation, religion)
• Psychology (sex life, ambitions, complexes )
• The backstory helps understand why characters behave as they do
• Too much backstory is not okay. This should reflect on the present in some relevant way
• Backstory should be used to clarify actions and decisions in the present

Chapter 5

• Chararacters have something in common that brings them together and keeps them together. This is the initial attraction 
• There’s a conflict between the characters that threatens to pull them apart and provides much of the drama or comedy in the script
• Constrasting qualities. These create opposites, another kind of relationship
• Characters have potential to transform each other (for better or for worse)

Chapter 6

• Deciding what the function of the character needs to be
• Creating a character that contrasts with other characters to fulfill that function
• Filling out that character by adding details
• Villains; evil character who oppose the protagonist. This makes him an antagonist. The role of the villain is always to connote evil
• Not all antagonists are villains. If a character doesn’t get good grades and the principal can’t let him pass, this doesn’t make him a villain. Just an antagonist because he opposes the protagonist in some way

The 12 Basic principles of animation

The 12 principles
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_principles_of_animation

Squash and stretch

The most important principle is "squash and stretch",[4] the purpose of which is to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the musculature of a human face.[5][6] Taken to an extreme point, a figure stretched or squashed to an exaggerated degree can have a comical effect.[7] In realistic animation, however, the most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an object's volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly horizontally.[8]

Anticipation

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic.[9] A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up.[10]

For special effect, anticipation can also be omitted in cases where it is expected. The resulting sense of anticlimax will produce a feeling of surprise in the viewer, and can often add comedy to a scene.[11] This is often referred to as a 'surprise gag'.[12]

Staging

This principle is akin to staging as it is known in theatre and film.[13] Its purpose is to direct the audience's attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene; what is happening, and what is about to happen.[14] Johnston and Thomas defined it as "the presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear", whether that idea is an action, a personality, an expression or a mood.[13] This can be done by various means, such as the placement of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow, and the angle and position of the camera.[15] The essence of this principle is keeping focus on what is relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail.[16][17]

Straight ahead action and pose to pose

These are two different approaches to the actual drawing process. "Straight ahead action" means drawing out a scene frame by frame from beginning to end, while "pose to pose" involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later.[14] "Straight ahead action" creates a more fluid, dynamic illusion of movement, and is better for producing realistic action sequences. On the other hand, it is hard to maintain proportions, and to create exact, convincing poses along the way. "Pose to pose" works better for dramatic or emotional scenes, where composition and relation to the surroundings are of greater importance.[18] A combination of the two techniques is often used.[19]

Computer animation removes the problems of proportion related to "straight ahead action" drawing; however, "pose to pose" is still used for computer animation, because of the advantages it brings in composition.[20] The use of computers facilitates this method, as computers can fill in the missing sequences in between poses automatically. It is, however, still important to oversee this process, and apply the other principles discussed.[19]

Follow through and overlapping action

These closely related techniques help render movement more realistically, and give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. "Follow through" means that separate parts of a body will continue moving after the character has stopped. "Overlapping action" is the tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates (an arm will move on different timing of the head and so on). A third technique is "drag", where a character starts to move and parts of him take a few frames to catch up.[14] These parts can be inanimate objects like clothing or the antenna on a car, or parts of the body, such as arms or hair. On the human body, the torso is the core, with arms, legs, head and hair appendices that normally follow the torso's movement. Body parts with much tissue, such as large stomachs and breasts, or the loose skin on a dog, are more prone to independent movement than bonier body parts.[21] Again, exaggerated use of the technique can produce a comical effect, while more realistic animation must time the actions exactly, to produce a convincing result.[22]

Thomas and Johnston also developed the principle of the "moving hold". A character not in movement can be rendered absolutely still; this is often done, particularly to draw attention to the main action. According to Thomas and Johnston, however, this gave a dull and lifeless result, and should be avoided. Even characters sitting still can display some sort of movement, such as the torso moving in and out with breathing.[23]

Slow in and slow out

The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, animation looks more realistic if it has more drawings near the beginning and end of an action, emphasizing the extreme poses, and fewer in the middle.[14] This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration.[24]

Arcs

Most natural action tends to follow an arched trajectory, and animation should adhere to this principle by following implied "arcs" for greater realism. This can apply to a limb moving by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving along a parabolic trajectory. The exception is mechanical movement, which typically moves in straight lines.[25]

As an object's speed and momentum increases, arcs tend to flatten out in moving ahead and broaden in turns. In baseball, a fastball would tend to move in a straighter line than other pitches; while a figure skater moving at top speed would be unable to turn as sharply as a slower skater, and would need to cover more ground to complete the turn.

An object in motion that moves out of its natural arc for no apparent reason will appear erratic rather than fluid. Therefore when animating (for example) a pointing finger, the animator should be certain that in all drawings in between the two extreme poses, the fingertip follows a logical arc from one extreme to the next. Traditional animators tend to draw the arc in lightly on the paper for reference, to be erased later.

Secondary action

Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through facial expressions.[26] The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action. If the latter is the case, those actions are better left out.[27] In the case of facial expressions, during a dramatic movement these will often go unnoticed. In these cases it is better to include them at the beginning and the end of the movement, rather than during.[28]

Timing

Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film.[14] On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push.[29] Timing is critical for establishing a character's mood, emotion, and reaction.[14] It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character's personality.[30]

Exaggeration

Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons.[14] The level of exaggeration depends on whether one seeks realism or a particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist. The classical definition of exaggeration, employed by Disney, was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form.[31] Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal, alterations in the physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline itself.[32] It is important to employ a certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains several elements, there should be a balance in how those elements are exaggerated in relation to each other, to avoid confusing or overawing the viewer.[33]

Solid drawing

The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, giving them volume and weight.[14] The animator needs to be a skilled draughtsman and has to understand the basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc.[34] For the classical animator, this involved taking art classes and doing sketches from life.[35] One thing in particular that Johnston and Thomas warned against was creating "twins": characters whose left and right sides mirrored each other, and looked lifeless.[36] Modern-day computer animators draw less because of the facilities computers give them, yet their work benefits greatly from a basic understanding of animation principles, and their additions to basic computer animation.[35]

Appeal

Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor.[37] A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic — villains or monsters can also be appealing — the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting.[37] There are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective.[38] A complicated or hard to read face will lack appeal, it may more accurately be described as 'captivation' in the composition of the pose, or the character design.

Research book #1 - Understanding Animation - Paul Wells

Understanding Animation - Paul Wells

Short summary; Paul Wells is Subject Leader in Media Studies at De Montfort University in Leicester.

This book is a very comprehensive introduction to the popular medium called animation. It discusses its history and explains the defining characteristics of animation as a cinematic form. 

Most important chapter 3: Narrative strategies

Definition and devices

#1 Metamorphosis

One particular device unique to animation. Some argue the core of animation itself. The ability for an image to literally change into another completely different image. For example, through the evolution of the line, the shift in formations of clay or the manipulation of objects or environment.

#2 Condensation 

Animation predominantly occurs in short form, and manages to compress a high degree of narrational information into a limited period of time through processes of condensation. These include the elliptical cut and the comic elision. 

Elliptical cut

Works in the same way as live-action film-making in the sense that cuts are made between the depiction of events that signify the passage of lengths of time (for example the fade in, fade out, dissolve and wipe can point to a new event or chapter in the story of the film).

Comic Elision

Essentially the construction of a sequence of comic events of which operate as a self-determining process informed by the particular timing and relationship of the visual and verbal jokes.  

#3 Synecdoche

 Another of the chief devices instrumental in the condensation process is the use of synecdoche, literally a device by which the depiction of part of a figure or object represents the whole of the figure or object. (In some respects this is also similar to the use of metonymy, which is the substitution of an image for its action, e.g. a symbol of a bottle instead of the act of drinking.)

#4 Fabrication 

Three-dimensional animation is directly concerned with the expression of materiality, and, as such, the creation of a certain meta-reality which has the same physical property as the real world. This fabrication essentially plays out an alternative version of material existence, recalling narrative out of constructed objects and environments, natural forms and substances, and the taken-for-granted constituent elements of the everyday world. In a certain sense, this is the re-animation of materiality for narrative purposes. 

#5 Acting and Performance

'Acting' in the animated film is an intriguing concept in the sense that it properly represents the relationship between the animator and the figure, object or environment he/she is animating. The animator must essentially use the techniques employed by the actor to project the specificities of character through the mechanistic process of the animation itself. In fact, the animator must consider all the possibilities available to the actor in order to create and develop 'character' long before the actual process of animation begins.

Like actors in the theatre or live-action film, the animator develops the character from a script, considering the narrative implications of the role in the determination of character design, the range of movement available to the character, and the character's predominant motivation, which inevitably informs modes of expression and behavior. The animator, like the actor, though, is seeking to extend the possibilities of the character beyond the information given or suggested in the initial text. Though animated characters ultimately seem fairly limited in their motives, their range of physical expression is extraordinary.

It seems, then, that 'character' is defined first by the conditions and possibilities of the medium and its capacity to express and extend the formal capabilities of external, readily perceived existence. The character may be understood through its costume or construction, its ability to gesture and move, and the associative aspects of its design. The 'internal' aspects of character often seem one--dimensional or subject to the excessive overstatement of particular attitudes or moods, and these singular imperatives become the simple devices that drive the narrative, for example, Donald Duck's frustration or Goofy's ineptitude. Character, in this sense, is merely a cipher for a particular quality, often expressed in exaggerated gestures which echo some of the overt posturing and explicit signification of acting in the era of the silent live-action cinema. 

#6 Choreography (extension of theatrical staging)

The dynamics of movement as a narrative principle (dancing for example). 

#7 Penetration 

The ability to evoke the internal space and portray the invisible (for example the internal workings of an organism. The depths of a man's soul is more than a phrase to the animator: it can also be a picture - Halas and Batchelor, 1949: 10)

#8 Symbolism & Metaphor

Symbolism, in any aesthetic system, complicates narrative structure because a symbol may be consciously used as part of the image vocabulary to suggest specific meanings, but equally, a symbol may be unconsciously deployed, and, therefore, may be recognized as a bearer of meaning over and beyond the artist's overt intention. The metaphor essentially grows out of symbolism and serves to embody a system of ideas in a more appealing or conducive image system. The use of metaphor simultaneously invites interpretation but insists upon openness.  

Looking back; WTF just happened?! project Year 2

A couple of days ago I e-mailed Tarek for some help and guidance. I was really stuck and I didn't know where to go. With the reply came some valuable feedback. He recommended me to look back on older school projects and see if I could figure out where I could take this project.

I looked back and one project sprang to mind immediately. The WTF project. This was a second years projects, where we were allowed to do anything we wanted. So we (Marc, Niek and I) decided to do an old scool point and click adventure.

So why exactly does this project stand out for me? I guess it was the zany humor, the great characters and the overall fun I had while producing artwork for this quirky little adventure. It has a very stylistic 'animated' vibe to it, which always appealed to me.

Last thursday I was talking to Marc (same one) about our experiences with this project and I said that I really liked working on it. Mainly because it was so driven by its narrative and the accompanying characters. Marc told me that approach is called 'Top down' design in game designer terms; beginning with the decorative layer (the story, the characters etc.) and build your game core around these elements. A very interesting angle and I think it really helps to focus the visual elements of the game and keep them consistent around a single component; The story and its characters. This last thought bit is interesting, and maybe a new window to new research opportunities.

**Last but not least, last friday I interviewed a couple of animation students. When I get my notebook back I'll upload the answers. Quite some interesting information surfaced from these short interviews.** 

The next step forward; Getting to into animation!

The next step now is to start researching what is so different about designing for games or an animated feature.

Yesterday I got in contact with a couple of animation students and asked them if I could ask them specific questions about the way they work. Hopefully this will give me some insight about how their approach to visual design differs from ours.


 Here are the questions for the questionnaire; 

• 1. What is the major difference between designing for games and for animation according to you?
• 2. On what exactly lies the emphasis when designing for an animation?
• 3. How do you decide on a visual style for an animation? 
•     And how exactly does the accompanying creative design process work?
• 4. To what degree you take the enduser into account while making an animation?
• 5. Which design techniques for animation do you think could be of great benefit to games?

School related questions

• 6. Do you work in groups or individually?
• 7. What kind of course material are you offered during your education? 

Additional questions

• 8. Would you mind working for a games company? And if not, why exactly? 
• 9. What do you think about the current state of animation in games?
• 10. Have you recently seen a game which caught your attention? And if so, why? 

The new direction; Keep it simple, stupid!

Last week I returned from a week long trip to Sweden. And during this trip, I did a lot of thinking about this graduation project.

Before I went to Sweden, I had a lot of trouble starting up. I just didn't know where to begin. I was having a hard time deciding my focus of my supportive narrative. Feedback like "vague" and "convoluted" made me realize I was probably thinking too hard and making things too complicated. As the left visualization figure shows, this project had too much going on.

So at the beginning of this week, I contacted Sonja to talk about this issue. As soon as we started talking about my project, something became clear very rapidly; as I said before, it was overcomplicated to say the least. Different target audiences, doing concept work for two different media and the adaptation of an ancient story. I can undoubtedly say I'm not an expert in any of these practices. Plus, there are two, maybe even three projects hidden within this premise. So after some discussion with Sonja, we decided to make it simpler and more straightforward.

The new direction goes as follows;
- How can a Game Artist use design techniques from the animation field to strengthen his design work for games? 
or
- Which design techniques from the animation field can the Game artist use to inform his design work for games?

So what basically happened is that instead of creating these two vastly different products for two different media (which is a heavy load to begin with), I narrowed my approach down.
I'll use the researched techniques of the animation field, analyze and compare them to games. Then I will implement them in my current expertise (Which is making artwork for games). This way I can focus my efforts creating something unique.

In short; The project has become a more practical one and I have this feeling this could actually work. The funny thing is that this new direction is actually what I wanted to start researching in the first place. But of course during making the proposal I made things overly complex and lost focus.

Next post will be about a questionnaire which I'm preparing for some animation students. Cheers!