ExpoTees 2011

I showcased at Teesside University's ExpoTees 2011.

It was great to be able to show people my work and hear their comments and generally speak to people about animation! However, unfortunately I was suddenly move from the room I was supposed to be in to another room on the highest level and admittedly, out of the way. So I don't think I got to show my work to as many people as were actually at the event, which is a huge shame because I was looking forward to speaking to people about it.

Still, I hope to be able to show my work to other people which I'm sure I will :)

Finally finished!

I do apologise for neglecting you a little bit blog!

4th April was fast approaching and I did nothing but sort out the clean up animation for at least 3 weeks solid! But it was all worth it because I managed to get the animation finished with sound! Yay!

Enjoy x

Catch A Falling Star from Rachel Kehoe on Vimeo.

More line tests uploaded.

Scenes 3, 4 and 5 are up on the 'Line Tests' page.

Working on starting Scene 6 (about to start painting background).

Progress - slowly but surely.

Added two sketchbook pages to the Character Sketches page. I'm basically adding them as I get the time/find the sketch pages again. They're not in order or anything so don't look at them as a sort of timeline otherwise things might look a bit odd.

Scenes 3 + 4 are pretty much complete (line tests). Still not happy with Scene 4's perspective run (which is really hard to animate btw!) but I really need to move on. Staying stuck on that scene is stressing me out so I'm going to try and sort it out during the clean up.

Started on Scene 5 and nearly finished that. Completed line tests will be up soon.

I'm considering two changes to the project. One is a slight change to the character's eyes to make their focus more apparent and the second is a scene change. Referring back to the animatic, the scene where Lily turns as the star heads for the house, I was never happy with that scene. I thought it was weak, quite frankly. I'm considering changing it to show from a sort of 'over the shoulder' shot where we watch the star plummet towards to house.

Updates on that soon :)

7 Weeks to go...

And I'm freaking out!!
It just doesn't seem like enough time! Especially with all my other modules demanding my time!
Wondering now if volunteering to work Animex last week was such a good idea... I really enjoyed it and have gotten some nice fresh inspiration and energy to keep me going but all that cost a week of work. Didn't have time to do anything!

I'm definitely exhibiting in ExpoTees (whether I wrote this down before I don't remember!) and I've had to complete an image for the brochure for today. Managed to get that done over the weekend and finish it today.

Started work on making a Wish plushie to help with reference for the more complicated star animations. Pics soon :)

Here's the brochure pic though:

Quick Update

Line Tests for Scenes 1 and 2 uploaded on their own page.

Also added Scene 4's background to the background page.

Got feedback from Nick about report. Said to not describe the Animation Principles (which is boring), though I'm waiting for clarification on that because my intention wasn't to describe the Animation Principles but to talk briefly about their use in my animation specifically.

Consider yourself updated Blog.

Still animating.

Getting a bit worried now because I've fallen behind on my animating schedule due to other modules demanding time. Still, it's going slowly but surely.

Will be adding a page for Scene Line Tests so far. I've completed (roughly) scene 1 and 2. Currently working on scene 3 and 4, which will be completed very soon. I hope to get started on 5 and 6 this week since Animex is next week.

Also roughed out my Final Year Project report, I've emailed that to my supervisor and currently waiting for feedback.

Working it out.

Sometimes, things just don't work. And when they don't work, you need to move on and try something else. That's one of the most important things I've learned while studying and doing animation.

Sometimes a particular action or piece of acting just isn't the right one. For example, I've now just run into this situation while trying animate Lily's reaction to first seeing the falling star in the sky. I've tried some slight squash and stretch with a hint of anticipation to make her sorta 'twitch' (sounds wrong but we'll go with that word for now) when she realises what she's looking at. But it's not right.
The main problem is it's slowing her and the animation down. I'm not wholy believing this is her character. So I've taken about an hour or so's work out, just after finishing it and watching the sequence a few times. Why? Because it's time to try something different.

There is absolutely no point in dwelling on trying to make this work. It might take me longer than it should to get it right. I may not ever get it right. Or I might get it down a lot better if I try again. But the main point is I'm not believing it and if I don't believe it how can I expect an audience to?
But it's ok because I have other ideas. I've thought about Lily's personality and thought of a few reactions that are more 'Lily-like'.


Now, a quick note: I am not saying throw it out as soon as something doesn't work. That's not what I'm trying to get across here. If there's a particular action that is right but just isn't working, try again. If it's something that the character would definitely do, try again. Maybe from a different angle or a different way but certainly try again. The point is learning to recognise when an idea is awesome but just needs more time and working out and when an idea just isn't appropriate/right/believable and a new idea is needed.

It's part of what I think is the fun of animation; the working it out.

(And of course the results of your efforts!)

Well... that was certainly a long and somewhat deep post from me. I occasionally like to write my thoughts down so that one day I'll read it and think 'God, what a freak I was...'

Ok...

I *THINK* I have everything back up... I think... Plus some extra stuff, namely the character sketches and concepts. Now I can go back to animating :)

Quick update on animation process: Scene 1 and 2 are roughed out, currently roughing out Scene 3. I hope to get most if not all of the animation roughed out by the time the Animex festival starts, which will be the week starting February 7th. So I've got about a month. Should be do-able. (I hope!)

Welcome - Take 2

So by re-arranging my google account I have managed to accidently delete my Final Year Project blog. Which sucks by the way.

I've managed to set the blog back up however, previous posts can't be recovered. (In fact, nothing can be recovered. I have to do this again from scratch.) Everything should be up as it was, all that's really missing are my previous posts of updates and rambles.

So welcome again! This is my second Final Year Project blog, please find all the details about my project within the pages to the right!

May the first blog rest in peace.