The Good Puppet.

A craftsman is making a puppet.  He is working at different fittings as he creates his boy puppet.  When he finishes making it, he turns it around and studies the key in the back of him.  It refuses to work and he cannot understand what he has done wrong.   Something is wrong, no matter how tight he winds the puppet, it will not move.  He takes out the key and throws it on the floor in disgust.  He turns off the lights and leaves the workshop. 

The camera will now focus on a beam of light that is focussing on the key on the floor.  Within the light a fairy is seen, the fairy lifts the key and the key changes to gold and the fairy disappears. 

At Sunrise the craftsman comes back into the workshop and begins to tidy up the splinters etc from the night before.  He comes to the key and realises that the key has changed, he had not been working with a gold key.   The man picks it up and tries it in the back of the puppet, he leaves it sitting as it is still not working.  As he moves away he notices that the right arm is twitching, then, the left arm moving, suddenly the puppet is on its feet.  The puppet lifts its head, looks at the man and opens his eyes.  Then the puppet begins to dance, slapping various parts of his body in time to his feet.  The puppet moves about and begins to touch the other puppets in the room, suddenly they all come to life and all begin to dance. 

The puppets move along touching all the other toys in the workshop and all the characters come to life.  The man looks at what is happening  and begins to get afraid.  The puppets and toys surround him pushing at him and he eventually falls down to the ground.   The toys and puppets immediately, rush over to him and begin to lift him.   At each part of his body they put the string in place and make him into a puppet.  The man is now a puppet and is sat on a stage like area with the rest of the toys etc sitting in front of him like an audience.  The curtains at each side of him give the illusion of a stage and the man is then made to dance, just like a performing puppet. 

A ball is pushed on stage and the man is made to dangle above it, in entertainment for the audience.  The curtains close quickly and then re-open,  the man is then seen attached to a wheel of life with a blindfolded puppet throwing knives at him.  Again the curtains close, next time they open the knife throwing puppet has changed his dress to look like a magic man.  The craftsman is standing in a cage, still attached to the strings and the cage is covered with a cloak.  The puppet does his magic, a bra,ca da bra,  he pulls of the cloak and the man has disappeared! 

The puppet proceeds to take off his really tall hat, taps it with his wand but the wand bends, he tries to repeat the process  with another wand ,this time, something has happened.  He looks in the hat and pulls out a rabbit which he throws away, than another rabbit, then another rabbit. He turns the hat upside down and starts tapping it.  A snake, falls out, a frog falls out and after a really hard shake, the man falls out.  The puppet takes a bow, all the audience claps and the curtains close. 

They open again to find the puppet pushing a pool of water forward onto the stage.  The man is hanging from above and standing behind him is the puppet dressed as a pirate, prodding the man to walk the plank into the water.  He prods the man until he falls off the plank but fortunately, he quickly grabs onto the ropes and stops himself at the last minute ,falling into the water.  He swings himself forward and catches the sword of the pirate puppet and quickly cuts his strings, becoming free.  He drops unto the stage and tries to catch the puppet who is shocked and is running away.  The man knows that he needs to get the key off him.  The curtains close. 

The curtains open, the man is there and he looks at the audience and wonders why are they clapping.  The puppet comes on stage bringing a cannon with him.  He proceeds to strike a match and lights the cannon.  The man rushes to cover his face as the cannon fires, thankfully, instead the expected explosion ,the cannon ball just drops at his feet.  He looks at it and looks at the puppet who has a look of disgust on his face.  The curtains close. 

They open ,with the puppet now in the guise of a woman, dressed and dancing the can can.  He is accompanied then by other puppets dressed the same who enter into the same dance line.  At this stage the man is just off stage, being linked at the arms by other puppets.  They dance on stage and the man is forced to do the same, as he cannot get free.  The music finishes with the puppets performing a great finale of jumps and finishing splits, the curtains close. 

On opening again, the puppet appears as a cowboy, as does the man.  They are at centre stage, back to back and begin to walk apart, one, two , three, turn and shoot.  However ,the dual ends not in bloodshed but in flags dropping from the guns saying, ‘ boom’.  The puppet now tries to run away, however the man has an idea, he throws his rope and catches him in the noose and begins to pull the puppet towards him.  Eventually he gets a hold of the puppet who struggles continuously.  The man quickly and skilfully grabs hold of the key in his back and pulls it out, immediately the puppet begins to grow limp.  He looks at the audience and they also have become limp.  The man falls on the floor in exhaustion, he cannot believe that he has finally separated the key and the puppet. 

To ensure that this will not happen again , the man places the puppet and the key into a box, separately however, and leaves the room.  Meanwhile the door goes in the workshop and a boy comes in and starts to look around.  He finds the box and looks with interest at the puppet and the key.  He decides since no one is around that he will steal both of these and so leaves the workshop in a hurry.   The man now returns to the workshop as he is now ready to bury the box, but where is it?

He looks all around the shop but can’t find it. 

The boy is now seen going into his own home, taking the puppet from the box and placing the key into his back.  As he begins to wind, the scene is cut!   

The Second Shop

This is in the past.  There are lots of different shops.  Food shops, toy shops, beautiful shops all with loads of different colours. 

Now step into the future and the rise of big companies, money orientated.  Build malls, shopping centres, smaller shops go out of business, big ones take over.  These shops are very busy, bigger shops buying in bulk, can make things cheaper. 

Queues are everywhere, people queuing for jobs in factories, making clothes and toys for the big companies.  These people are not very happy, the world is very dark.  The city centre is very dark, lots of shops closed and the area very dark and unattractive. 

People are miserable, just plodding along. 

Sky scrapers fill the skyline.  A father is at the top of one of these sky scrapers.  He is the chief executive and his office is very dark.  The boy opens the door and goes into his dad’s office, his father is in a swivel chair and turns to face his son with a very cross expression. 

The boy presents to his father a ship which he has made.  He puts it on his desk and pushes it towards his dad.  His father’s response is to flatten the ship with his fist.  He frowns at this son and tells him that this is not a suitable project for him.  ‘I told you that you need to learn the business in order to make money.’ He points to the door and orders his son out.  The son is disappointed and sad and leaves the building. 

He goes back to his bedroom, sits quietly and thinks about what he would like to do.  He wants to go outside himself without his father’s knowledge.  He opens the door very quietly, and sneaks out.  As he walks along the streets he notices that everyone he meets looks very unhappy. 

He comes across a very small shop, that looks desolate.  It is surrounded by wood, blocked up windows and a worn sign outside.  The son decides that he would like to go inside.  He climbs inside with some difficulty and to his delight he realises that it was a toy shop in it’s day. 

He picks up a doll and immediately it disintegrates into dust, it is so old.  When this happens he notices a box which he lifts and inspects.  It carries the name off...............  He forces the lock open and slowly opens the box and sees something at the bottom of it.  He lifts this item out and after examining this he realises it is a wind up toy.  He winds the toy up and sits down to see what it does.  The arms begin to move and toy stands up.  Wings begin to spout and he realises that he is looking at a fairy.  The fairy begins to fly and the boy shots back in amazement and fear.  The fairy flies very close to the boy’s face and he is afraid to move.  He can’t understand what is happening.  The fairy does not speak to him but flies to the doll that has broken into dusk.  It fixes the doll back to its original form, the doll looks like new. 

The fairy proceeds to move around the shop and fix all the toys lying around the shop.   The boy stands back in amazement as each of these toys come to life.  The fairy then begins to dance whilst the boy looks eagerly on. 

The boy looks really happy.   A little girl is looking in through the window and she sees what was happening.  She sees the toys and eagerly climbs in through the open door to play with the toys. Suddenly the toys stop moving and become very quiet.  The girl moves towards the boy and he gives her a doll.  More and more children start coming into the shop and begin to choose the toys that they like.  Mums and dads follow them and start to buy the toys which are brightly coloured and happy looking. 

When at last the toys ran out, the boy wound up the fairy and suddenly through its magic, new toys began to appear. 

Back at Dad’s Office, the boy is working with his father.  He is learning the business from his dad.  Dad is showing him projection charts and starts to smack the table in anger.  His company is losing money and he is not happy.  Dad then goes into the small shop and destroys the toys.  He is helped by his security men as being rich he has employed these men.  He turns to see his son standing behind him in the shop.  He attempts to slap his son but suddenly the fairy appears to stop this action.  The father is very surprised seeing the fairy and he panics and flicks the fairy away.  The fairy falls under the pressure of his hand.  The boy is shocked and very sad.  The father scornfully tells his son to go back home.  The son leaves walking off very slowly and full of grief. 

From the fairy a spirit is seen to rise, firstly in blue and then changing to red.  This spirit spreads out over the shop and takes the form of a giant snake.  It attacks the father and his security men, beating them up. 

The snake then shoots electricity from its mouth and hits the father.  The son hears the commotion and rushes back to save his father.  The boy is then killed by the snake.  The snake proceeds to spit out more electricity at the father fortunately, a mirror is at hand which the father grabs.  He places this in front of him and the electricity hits it and makes it rebound to the snake, killing it outright. 

The father is so sad that his son is dead.  He kneels over his body and cries. 

Suddenly the boy screams, he sees lots of fairies.  They are attacking him, more and more they try.  Suddenly he wakes up!  He stands up but falls down again.  The dad looks at him in amazement; he cannot understand what is happening to him.  As he falls he notices a winding mechanism on his back.  Slowly the father winds this and the boy begins to stand up and steadily move.  The father then realises that the boy is like a fairy. 

The boy now again makes a ship and presents this to his father.  The father is really happy with this ship.    

Mt.Head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuM8xHQSUEM&feature=related

"A Child's Metaphysics" by Koji Yamaura

Koji Yamaura A Child's Metaphysics Animated Film, 2007

A child's metaphysics attempts to explore the ecology and philosophy of children with a melancholic humour that entertains but ultimately questions the audiences perception of the seemingly happy childhood world, using meticulously crafted drawing. Koji creates a child whose head is constructed from numerals, and another child who winds up his own faces and carries it under his arm, which is quickly followed by a child whose eyes are depicted by fish and a child who lies on the floor, head-butting hid own identity.

My Ideas!!

I have found a new idea and it relates to Flip Books. The drawing aspect is easy but very time consuming having over one hundred pages.  When it is completed it is then scanned or digitally photographed, whatever is easier to use.  These images are uploaded and edited.  This is when the contrast and colour is added and the sequences can be played around with.  However I am unable to use Flash at the moment as I am not familiar with this software. So I am still waiting on an idea for a story at the moment. This is as far as I have got!

LAIKA Running by Lisa o'hara

Lisa O Hara

Laika Running is somewhat confusing.  It involves a dog running, quite slowly, then as the word faster appears, the dog runs faster.  No much involved in this animation, it just seems like some type of test of drawing skills.  The dog gets really fast at the end as more and more animation is added. 

http://www.vimeo.com/3321994

Motion tests

Matt Frodsham

Roto performance shots are really motion tests.  It is interesting from the perspective of how the hand motion drawings are created.  The music supplied by, ‘Ah Ha,’ fits the sketches and motion perfectly. 

If you would like to find out more information on how he created this animation you can go onto his blog.  mattfrodshamfmp. blogspot.com

http://www.vimeo.com/10539865

Patrick Pleau

Patrick Pleau, a French Canadian has created the Bocalophobe.  He created this by himself and proves that he is a very intelligence and gifted created.  The programmes that he used include, Adobe After Effects CS4, 3D Studio Max 2010, Photoshop CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Adobe Flash Professional CS4 and Red Giant Magic Bullets Look. 

This animation is very good when you consider that the creator put this all together himself and when the blends of design are considered.  The animation is accompanied with music and although it is in another language, its beat fits the activities perfectly.  The story is about a fish who is looking for freedom.  However, there is an aspect of the story that I found complex and difficult to understand.  Why were crisps and fish cola added to the bowl? I did not understand the relevance of this, unless it was to show cruelty to the fish!   All in all, the blend of different resources, pen and photo shop etc was very impressive.

http://www.vimeo.com/7794748

Fazil Say "black earth" Full animation by Volkan aydemir

This commences with the blobs being dropped on the wet sheet creating the Black Earth.  Out of the Black Earth a tree is created and through this image the subtitles are presented.  This animation creates the scene and allows the video to evolve. 

http://www.vimeo.com/7169426

Fazil Say "black earth" animation by Volkan aydemir

Black Earth was created by Volkan Aydemir.  This animation involves a blend of watercolour, pen, photograph, computer and pencil .  Also at one point the wet paint is put on a wet page and blended, an interesting process which I would like to explore.  The story is set to music and appropriately the piano music blends in association with the animation.  This creates a full audio and visual picture.  This animation creates a beautiful story, difficult to create but the finished article is very beautiful. 

http://www.vimeo.com/5030638

When Humans Ruled the Earth by Stephen Ong

Again this one is very interesting .  When Humans Ruled the Earth was created by Stephen Ong.  The story tells how the body goes through all the different machines in the factory.  It begins very slowly but builds up gradually until at the end, the earth explodes.  Interesting, but a difficult concept to understand!  Hand drawn sketches would not be possible for this type of animation as this would need to be created on the computer.  Photo shop may be useful but this is something that I would need to look into.

http://www.vimeo.com/13010221

Umbra by Malcolm Sutherland

I found this quite interesting . Umbra was created by Malcolm Sutherland.  The animation was all hand drawn, a mix of drawing on paper and digital animation with Toonboom Studio and a wacp, cintiq tabled assembled in After Effects 7 and edited in Sony Vegas 8.  It was interesting to see the story and how it progressed.  It takes you to see the end to see what the story is about.  At the beginning you are unsure what it is about however, as you follow it through, the story becomes alive and you see the people disappearing into the shadow.  Very interesting!.

I was thinking of doing something similar to this story.  I would draw over a 100 pages of sketches and develop the same sort of story.  I would try this firstly on the computer to see how it would works. 

http://www.vimeo.com/14844291

The Production Cycle

The production cycle is a complex task which involves various types and areas of development and design.  The Cycle begins with the ‘idea’ and this is then brought to life in a story board and show reel.  Next the characters are developed in their initial form in character studies and associated model sheets are produced.  Further life is given to the project with the associated sound being recorded and its appropriate length analysed in number frames.  Of course at this stage it is also necessary to conduct a sound analysis on dope sheets. 

The next stage of the production cycle is the creation of the scene layouts, these accompanied by the dope sheets allow the director to plan movement and timing.  After this has been sorted out, colour is added to the background paper and the movement drawings are commenced.  These completed drawings are again entered into dope sheets. 

The drawings are then tested on the line tester to ensure that the correct drawings are appearing at the right times and the movements are then traced onto cells. These cells are then painted or coloured and brought together with backgrounds.  At this stage the cells and backgrounds are combined on film and the exposed negative sent to the lab for processing. 

Here the sounds and pictures are edited and the sound tracks sent to the dubbing studio for mixing.  The negatives are then cut at the lab and with the cut print and final sound the final print is then made.  At last the print can be projected to the audience and the film then transferred to a DVD etc.

This completes the cycle.

Book: Animation in Process By Andrew Selby (TR 897.5)

This book contains a list of topics and associated artists with the various types of work.  The DVD which accompanies this book contains various pieces of work by these artists and I found it fascinating.    

 

Book: Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in fifties Animation By Amid Amidi (O NC 1766 U5A45)

This book took me back to my childhood memories of Bugs Bunny and other cartoons.    Back then cartoons were much more, straight forward compared to now, where, technology has replaced simplicity. 

Book: Dream Worlds by Hans Bacher (0 NC 1765.B33)

I found the images in this book to be fascinating.  How the artist has used the visual displaying contrasts to highlight particular aspects of his drawings was very interesting considering, his use of water colours, paints and other various materials.

Book: Sempe Sauve qui peut. (Nc1499.535 S2)

I found this small book on French cartoons.  There is no text involved, it is all images and I haven’t been able to put it down as it is so funny!  I have already referred to this book in my earlier blog of , ‘Simon’s Cat.’

 

50 Incredible Stop Motion Video!

If you are struggling to find Stop Motion research material I recommend that you go to this website.  There is a lot of interesting material on it. 

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/31/50-incredible-stop-motion-videos/

Cat!

I found this clip made by Simon Tofield , its called Simon’s Cat. I found this hilarious and what I found was very interesting, was the build up of the cat wanting to get its own way.  The things that we will do for food!   The animation is also very similar to a French book I got in the Library called, ‘Sempe Sauve qui peut.’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

Tutorial about Flash!

I did a search and found this Flash Tutorial which is excellent.  It goes through the various steps of Flash in a straight forward manner and if you want to learn any more about Flash I would recommend these tutorials.  Hope you like them!

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/17/adobe-flash-tutorials-best-of/

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION By Carlos Lascano

I found this video clip and it interested me greatly.  Going through his work and discovering his method of animation and how he produced material was enlightening.  The video went through the process step by step and highlighted the amount of work that it involved.

I learnt a lot through his method  of drawing and recreating the figures for animation.  He was able to produce images from 2D, to creations of 3D animation.  The more I explore this type of animation, the more my interest grows in this type of work and I feel that it is something that I would be interested in, in the future. 

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION on Vimeo