Research: Art Styles & Artistic Methods & Technical Development

Project Breakdown

The Story

So to begin with each group was given certain themes for their animations such as "Man vs Nature", "Man vs Man" or "Man vs The Universe", we were given "Man vs Machine".

With our idea, instead of going with traditional "Man vs Literal Machine" (Terminator, Megatron, HAL) we decided to go down a much more diverse path, focusing on the machine of society rather than a physical machine. Originally the idea was about a father who had lost his son, who later replaced his sons absence with a small robot. Given our genre the story then developed into something much more different, our storyline now follows a wanted thief in a stolen car, paranoia prominent in this thieves mind. We aim to build the paranoia through light and shape, our inspirational focus being Saul Bass. Bass's work involves extravagant sharp shapes and brilliant colours which will incorporate nicely with our use of bright lights to convey paranoia within the character. With the 'chase' becoming more prominent the colours of Bass combined with the shapes will create an intensity that will build on the paranoia and urgency of the characters. The use of Bass in our city can also be used to our advantage as we can exaggerate the city, make the builds larger than what they should appear - adding to the effect that the character is beginning to feel enclosed. Our animations end sentence is as follows: "His Knees Steadied, His Heart Beat Fiercely And He Began To Run Again", we put this into a literal context by having our main character meeting his demise at the end, he was on the run but isn't anymore.

Art Style

Zaha Hadid

An influence on our art style is a piece created by Zaha Hadid. One of our main goals for this project is designing objects that can only be seen with motion. These thumbnails have a sense of deliberate 'speed' to them, the angles used and the color combinations allow you to see these shapes as objects, but never as a solid.

Overexposure 1

Overexposure 2

Having overexposure lights as an artistic asset in the animation should allow us to give some real feelings of speed and movement. Going back, some of these photos are a good example of showing speed when it is merely a still image, when this technique gets put into the animation we should see some nice results in terms of movement.

Saul Bass

With our main influential artist for this project being Saul Bass. he mainly focuses on minimalist shapes to create organic and easily recognizable shapes. With our concept and production art we plan to incorporate these natural lines in our car, character and buildings to make it simplistic and to add to the paranoia.

The Technology/Development Process

There will be certain methods used in terms of "Creative Assembly" to create the final animation we all want, having certain aspects of the animation more complex than others so some artistic/design choices are able to stand out more.

Software Requirements/Colour Palette

The main production tools that will be used for this project will be, Adobe PhotoshopCC.2015.5, Adobe After Effects CC 2015.3, Maya 2016, CC Adobe Audition 2015.2.,CC Adobe Premier Pro 2015.3 and CC Adobe Media Encoder 2015.3. Photoshop will be used to create our basic concepts and textures After Effects will be used for giving the animation some colour management/rough editing. Maya will be used for rendering and creating our main animation and Audition will be where our sound is edited, created and stockpiled. Premier Pro is where all of the assets come together to create the final animation and Media Encoder will export the video a whatever quality is chosen for the end product. Methods for some of our animation will include characters that are moved around on 2D planes, which can be layered and swapped to give the illusion of 3D. The car will be modeled in 3D as will most of the roads.

The Soundscape

The Soundscape is a priority for this project to achieve this idea of paranoia in conjunction with Bass, the sound will give a feel to the animation without a clear physical visual input. Already we have a big stock of field recorded sounds from some members of the team and we have more coming in soon.

The screenplay for the animation has got two versions, the first is the storyline of the animation, how it flows and acts. But the second version is of sounds specifically tailored for certain parts of the screenplay, so we can get an idea of what it would sound like.

Screenplay Link

http://strideanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/sounds-to-screenplay.html

Narrative - Screenplay #1 - Man Vs Machine

Okay so this is my initial attempt of writing a ScreenPlay for our Animation. Im trying to incorporate the sounds and lighting we wish to achieve into the writing and I hope to give the impression the Man in the Animation is comfortable, to increasingly paranoid.

Any criticism is appreciated and I do apologise if its presented in the incorrect format, it is my first time doing this sort of writing. 

-- Rhys

'UNTITLED ANIMATION'

Screenplay written by Rhys Wadmore

Version # 01

Sound Fade In:

Ext. Quiet Street - Night

Through the ambient sounds of a SLEEPING CITY, we hear feet shuffling coming closer and closer toward us. A smashing of GLASS, car door OPENS and Brushing sounds just before it SLAMS abruptly, fidgeting as someone attempts to spark two wires. Sound of an ENGINE stirring with excitement and a STEADY ACCELERATION.

Fade In:

Ext. Bumper Shot Pan

The Lights of a vehicle are shone out into the camera and the front bumper and grill of a car is seen, the car is travelling at an average speed and the sound of the engine is PURRS along with the camera as it pans up to the BONNET.

Int. Car -Low Angle Shot

An obscured man is seen behind the wheel of an attractive automobile, driving, watching the road ahead while exploring the confines of the interior space with his other hand. He searches his upper jacket pocket and reveals a SMALL BOX.

Int. Car - Rear View Mirror Shot

The SMALL BOX is bought closer to the man's mouth, opened with his free hand and a single CIGARETTE is taken out and placed into his mouth. The man leans forward and a short CLICK is heard.

Int. Car - Inside Glove Box

The GLOVE BOX is opened by the man and he reaches for a handful of random cassette tapes and retracts his arm and places the tapes onto the SEAT beside him and closes the GLOVE BOX.

Int. Car - Low Angle Shot

The man multi-tasks driving and looking down onto the SEAT beside him browsing through the tapes with one hand, the name of the tape he chooses is seen briefly on the back--

Tape is inserted and a WHIRRING sound is made.

Int. Car - Rear View Mirror Shot

The man leans forward slightly as a CLICKING sound is made as a spark ignites beneath his lips and the CIGARETTE is lit, a deep INHALE ---

and EXHALE as the music from the Cassette plays quitely builds.

Ext. Car - Driver Side Rig Cam Shot

The man extends his left hand outside the window resting on the side of the car as the sound of the music fills the air and smoke puffs out the side. The sound of a PASSING cars and light appear to the sides of the car.

Dissolves Out with the PASSING LIGHT:

Ext. Car - Driver Side - Front Wheel Rig Shot

Lights a reflected by the BODYWORK of the car, (Insert Saul Bass Colour Palette). The Sound of the wheel ROLLING against the Tarmac as the car begins to come to a crawl.

Ext. Traffic lights - Shot down

A CHAIN of lights are shone down onto the bonnet and windscreen of the car as it screeches to a steady halt, Other vehicles are in view but are dull silhouettes compared to our car of focus. Except one car that is a few cars behind.

Int. Car - Dashboard Cam

The Man leans forward to get a closer view out the front windscreen and into focus comes the words SOUTH BEACH and UPPER EST written backwards as part of a reflection. The man looks left and right making a decision and before the Traffic lights change a REPEATED CLICK is heard.

Ext. Street Sign - High Angle Shot

A CIGARETTE is flicked past the words SOUTH BEACH, Camera focuses and as the acceleration of the car builds to speed, we refocus onto the car journeying towards a NEON LIT landscape. The SOUNDS of the car begin to die down the further away it travels. Another Car follows slowly in the same direction.

Int. Car - Low Angle

Man reopens SMALL BOX to see its there is one CIGARETTE left, places it inside his mouth deep sigh as he throws the empty box toward the SEAT next to the camera. A slight CHINK is heard, Man ignites new CIGARETTE--

Focuses in on CIGARETTE light

Man inhales and exhales smoke once more--

Ext. South Beach Sidewalk - High Angle - Static Shot

New music pours into the scene from the establishments littering the area --
The car pulls over slowly in front of brilliant NEON lights, stops centre frame and the man applies the HANDBRAKE. Man sticks out his head slightly to observe the area. The sound of a second car

Int. Car - Rear View Mirror Shot

The man readies himself to disembark the vehicle, turns OFF the ENGINE the focus of the camera zooming slowly through the back window of the car showing the audience the second car thats pulled up a little way behind the car.

Ext. Car - Wing Mirror Shot

The man opens his door slowly and takes his time getting out, the door of the car that follows the man also opens in sync. The door the camera is on pauses to open fully, so does the door of the car that follows. SOUNDS INTENSIFY

Int. Car - Rear View Mirror Zoomed Shot

The camera fully centred throw the back window of the car the man SLAMS the door and shifts back into the seat, staring into the rear view mirror. Lights fill the side of the shot focusing in on the two men sitting in the car waiting-- SOUNDS AND LIGHT INTENSIFY

Man looks back slowly, then sharply forward

Int. Car - Low Angle

The man still staring at the Rear View Mirror struggles to reach the seatbelt over his right shoulder, and slowly CLICKS into position. The man places the key into the ignition slowly--

Distorted sound floods the scene and becomes uncomfortable

Ext. Car - Back of car panning down

The man turns the key in the ignition and the engine ROARS into life, Lights turn back ON, the car SCREECHES its tyres and kicks up smoke, Handbrake DISENGAGES, car shunts backwards because of TORQUE and the car speeds off through the smoke it creates.

Int. Numerous Abstract Shots.

-- Cameras detail the inside of the car while the man is speeding away, Focuses on the GEAR STICK when he's shifting up, in key with the ACCELERATOR and CLUTCH. SPEEDOMETER increases and so does the aggression of the vehicle. Wheels screeching as he sharply turns left and right, Objects shift to show the direction of gravity.

Ext. Slow Zoom From Front Bumper To Mans Face

The camera pans up from the Bumper to show the audience this build up of smoke the car has kicked up, the distorted and unclear lights, the sounds of passing vehicles and the progression of sound the car is making. --
Camera reaches mans face and continues to zoom in

Ext. Parallel Follow Camera Shot

Audience is shown the car leaving the clouds of confusion that had been left in its wake. Sounds are left behind the car as the car speeds away from the distortion.

Int. Over The Shoulder Shot

Focuses over the mans shoulder to the -- THANK YOU FOR VISITING -- sign shown on the RIGHT hand side of the road, the man follows sign passing him and looks through the back window, as a red light is shown ahead of the man and fastly approaches.

Fade to Black --

Sounds of the man applying the BRAKES to the vehicle and spinning out of control, GRUNTS, Sounds of CLANGING bodywork and SMASHING glass. Car hurtles out of control and sound goes quiet

Fade in --

Ext. Slow Zoom From Side Of Car

The camera slowly zooms through the kicked up dust and smoke the car has created due to a horrific collision, A Single BRIGHT LIGHT shines through the smoke. A rim rolls toward the camera and spins as it comes to a halt. The car is overturned and the man is left mangled in the crash, lying to the ceiling of the car--
Camera enters car

Sound of FLAMES igniting and a distant sound of sirens glowing ever closer in the air, a very faint red and blue light gradually builds in the smashed window.

Cut To Black.

Man Vs Machine - The Journey

Man vs Machine

"His Knees Steadied, His Heart Beat Fiercely And He Began To Run Again"

Stride Animation has constructed a story from the aftermath of the workshop. The experience was enlightening and shed some light on elements we can use for a proposal for animation. The ending sentence is sourced from Blair Witch Project and that film is littered with abstract shots, close ups and values highly sound design to increase tension. So the first step to strengthening our story is looking at what makes a high speed chase so intense and the shots we can create to illustrate that. Below is the summary of the story - The overall idea:

 

We hear smashing glass and hot-wiring as a man breaks into a car. He seems quite pleased with himself speeding down the street and enjoying himself. It soon comes apparent to the audience he is a criminal on the run from the law, he notices a warrant for his arrest and paranoia sets in.

                  Street lights turn into flashing blue lights and the sounds around him are amplified, he thinks someone is shooting at the car when in fact its a car backfiring. The criminal speeds up even faster, tension builds as he thinks the threat of apprehension gets closer. He goes through a tunnel where he focuses and calms down, realises he's being paranoid. As he leaves the tunnel speeding still he is seen speeding by a real police car and a crash happens fades to black.

 

Bullit (1969)

1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT 2+2 Fastback.

Quantum Of Solace (2008)

Aston Martin DBS V12

Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)

Ford GT500 Shelby Cobra

 

Reviewing some iconic car chases there are actual set camera placements that compliment different actions for the driver. Placing the camera about the car could give us a sense of what kind of shots we can aim to produce. But before that we need to choose a Time and Place for this animation to take place. Somewhere that compliments what is going on in the 90 seconds and doesn't add any un-needed designs to our animation. We ultimately aim for the point of the animation to be clear to the audience so perhaps simplistic and stylised is really the way to go.

The Journey
 

 

 

 

 

Man vs Machine: The Story Workshop Progress And Conclusion

We entered the story workshop with few initial ideas and a possibility for development, the purpose of the day was to work out the nooks and crannies of our ideas. The process involved a lot of thoughts on paper and as we went along the ideas became more refined, closing in on our end sentence. The end results were very enlightening.

Final Decision

Through our development in the workshop as a group we have decided to focus in on our last idea. When we initially pitched it there was a few things we hadn't worked out like the climax. 

Our idea:

We hear smashing glass and hot-wiring as a man has broken into a car. He seems quite pleased with himself speeding down the street. It soon comes apparent to the audience he is a criminal on the run from the law, he notices a warrant for his arrest and paranoia sets in. Street lights and signs turn into flashing blue lights and the sounds around him are amplified, he thinks someone is shooting at the car when in fact its a car backfiring. The criminal speeds up even faster, tension builds as he thinks the threat of apprehension gets closer. He goes through a tunnel where he focuses and calms down, realises he's being paranoid. As he leaves the tunnel speeding still he is seen speeding by a real police car and a crash happens fades to black.

Camera Shots

There are things to still work out like what kind of shots are going to be needed and little fillers here and there to help link each scene a little better. We've been advised to work closer to the sourcing of our ending sentence.

"His Knees Steadied, His Heart Beat Fiercely And He Began To Run Again"

Blair Witch Project

The ending sentence can be related to the Blair Witch Project, a film that is littered with abstract shots, close ups and values highly sound design to increase tension. So the first step to strengthening our story is looking at what makes a high speed chase so intense and the shots we can create to illustrate that. So research to follow soon on that!

The When and Where

Thinking about what time and era can be crucial to the project, it would describe the setting and also what kind of cars to expect. If we want to litter the animation with chase tropes maybe looking at famous chase scenes and dissecting the locations and times. It can help the atmosphere also. 

Assigning Roles

We have each discussed which of the 20 roles we will each assume in the coming project. We chose the roles based on our strengths in order to produce the best work out of this project.

The following roles are something we will each focus on closely, however we will each communicate and help each other accordingly to allow the project the progress smoothly and successfully.

Samuel Johnson

Director

CG Modeller

Marketing Director

Producer

Rigger

Rhys Wadmore

Researcher

Editor

Compositor

Screen Writer

Layout Artist

Danni Foley

Sound Designer

Storyboard Artist

Production Designer

Art Director
Graphic Designer

Thomas Mayfield

Render Wrangler

Lighting Director

Media Planner 

Texture Artist
Animator

Designing Stride Animation

The Content Creators

The members who make up Stride are; Danni Foley, Rhys Wadmore, Samuel Johnson and Thomas Mayfield. We are coming together to fulfil the criteria of the Narrative and Character brief, one of our first hurdles was incorporating our ideas and designs together and come to choices on both together.

Danni Foley - http://dannifoleycaa.blogspot.co.uk

Rhys Wadmore - http://rwadmore.blogspot.co.uk

Samuel Johnson - http://Samjaycaa.blogspot.co.uk

Thomas Mayfield -http://thomasmayfielducarochester.blogspot.co.uk

The Initial Designs

Danni's Initial Drawing - We began brainstorming a group designation, trying to please everyone  in the group with the overall look of the blog. Danni suggested the idea of 'Stride' and the image of a stag as they fitted together which we all settled on the idea of. We began designing a logo in detail to represent our brand. we came up with the initial design of using a Stag as our logo, we picked up that a geometric look to our designs would be acceptable.

Danni then supplied us with some initial compositions using a geometry technique. Two examples, one with a fill with a dark colour palette and another as a line image. We choose not to apply colour at this point until we were happy with our logo, font and thereafter set up our blog. Once that is chosen we can do some final colour compositions. The font chosen was chose due to its clean appearance and professionalism, Avenir Next (Ultra Light). We experimented with a range of text to incorporate into the logo of the company.

Thomas applied a hatched design to the font to experiment and put the idea forward but we agreed that we should keep our font clean and sharp.

Logo Colour Compositions

Thomas created a range of colour compositions for the logo. Using the four seasons as his focus point he produced themed colour gradients for the design. We came to a subtle agreement that the winter composition gained the best results, so we began using light blues into our designs.

Header Compositions

Rhys elaborated on some header designs that Danni initially verbally suggested. The idea to add a geometric pattern somewhere within the border was to add emphasis to the look of the stag and also to make the banner look a lot more full. Rhys had the idea of placing a tree to the right that represented Yggdrasil the tree of life, the idea of the message being that it is striding toward the best of life. Rhys supplied a few different variations but ultimately we decided the geometric paper patterns in the background wasn't working.

Danni elaborated on her idea of placing a limited amount geometry along with the stag on the banner rather than to cloud the background with geometry. Danni reverted to black and white for this basic first design, once the design is finalised she would then work the colour into the banner and make it look professional, clean and sharp.

Animating the Logo

Thomas took the logo into Maya with the intent of possibly animating the stag into a running cycle. We could then possibly use the small clip at the start of our future animation.