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Collage (Caveman)

Beginning a series of experimental animation sessions, this first lesson was about using collage. In anticipation of the class I had already started to sketch out simple ideas for a collage animation in my commutes on the train to Cambridge. I'm glad I had already begun my thoughts in this area as I could get going quickly when it came to the day of coming up with an idea for the narrative animation.

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With the often janky look of animated paper, I thought about what might look good with a rough, erratic movement, so I came to the idea of fire. The next logical narrative step was to imagine someone starting the fire, for which caveman seemed an obvious choice.

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Here are my initial sketched ideas for the caveman and design for the simplified head. Usually I might take more time to refine a design but we had to just get animating quickly.

For the collage animation we were put into groups of three, making this the first truly collaborative task of the course. I worked with Kirstie and Leanna. Happily I can say that it really was a great collaboration, with all three of us contributing pretty equally. Ahead of the course I was unsure of how I would deal with working with others on creative projects. I'm so used to being something of a one-man-band, expecting myself to do every bit of the process - writing, character design, illustrating/animating, editing, etc. This is the most hands-off I have been (in the literal sense of not handling the main character), and yet in several ways this felt like my first real experience as an animation director. There were many times when I was overseeing the whole process and making decisions in the moment. It was thrilling in retrospect, though quite stressful against the time constraint of the day we shot the film.

Before starting the animation, I made the background landscape. We needed to have certain elements taped/glued down which weren't to move during the animating, namely the land, sky and campfire. I wanted to have a very simple but atmospheric setting, implying dying light, appropriate for lighting a fire. I considered the contrast in matte and shiny paper, and I didn't want any shininess on background elements so they could recede into the distance.

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Designing the caveman was a joint effort, though Kirstie was the main maker. The design took elements from my initial sketch, i.e. the prominent eyebrow, dots for eyes (drawn by Leanna) and angular dreadlocks. Kirstie figured out the body shape and joints. Leanna and Kirstie had found a magazine picture of otters swimming, which made a perfect pelt for our caveman. I liked a dirty rock texture which I suggested for the legs- I thought it indicated the guy had been walking through a swamp or could just have hairy legs. Magazine texture goes a long way to communicate a richer world, despite the overall flatness.

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It was great and surprisingly straightforward to use the studio rostrums (cameras pointing downwards and attached lights). The whole image could be evenly shot with four lights and additionally I liked the effect of shadows cast from paper that wasn't stuck down, making those parts leap forward to the viewer and creating a three-dimensional look.

Shooting...

We started shooting after lunch, around 2, with an aim to finish at around 4.45. I mention this as a reminder to myself of what's possible in a very short amount of time for what I consider to be a really positive outcome. It wasn't without challenges; first thing was to have our caveman walking across the shot whilst carrying firewood. I had suggested to Kirstie that she should be the primary character animator since she made the caveman and would naturally understand his pivot points. Since he had stubby little legs, his walk was charmingly awkward and hobbly, being without knees and walking on a very two-dimensional plane. This may not have been the plan but I liked it as soon as I saw the playback. Leanna sat at the computer and took charge of capturing each shot and deleting any frames which showed mistakes (on Dragonframe).

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Between us we would react to the animation as it happened and make a joint call on what to do next. Although we were under pressure to complete an animation, I think we gelled really well together in any moment of disagreement or difficulty, as we always promptly went with whoever had the better solution. By the end of the session I was fully trusting that we all were doing our respective jobs well and I could enjoy the flow of the action unfolding.

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The complete animation without sound.

For this task we were asked to keep in mind the principle of animation 'ease in and ease out'. The key moments which I think demonstrate this are those in which we see an action of the caveman's arms (easing out of an action and speeding through it). Leanna introduced an arc in the Dragonframe program to make the swing of the arm more smooth, and the action came out really nicely. I tried to pay attention to where the weight of the caveman's body would shift during movements; it's still early days in my learning but I can see how that shifting weight really sells any given action.

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I tried to make the most of the various qualities of paper. Cardboard would suit firewood, torn paper would denote clouds, and magazine photos give a touch of reality. Finally, the raging fire brought in tissue paper and mixed textures, really embracing the playful nature of the medium and bringing the film to a point of fun abstraction.

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