Over the past 4 weeks during my first year spent at university studying animation, one of the first projects handed out was to create a short series of various animation action cycles. These cycles included creating simple/stick figure characters engaging in common actions such as walking up and down stairs, standing up from the ground to walk over and take a seat on a chair, including front and side still walks and circular walk cycles. With most of my work for this project completed I have proceeded to present them here on my blog as a recording of my amount of production and progression in this area of work so far.
Circular Walk Cycle Animation
The circular walk cycle was the first and easiest animation to complete. The steps to do this piece was done in class and a video of a model was set on the board for us. Every 30 seconds each movement of this model in the video would be paused for the class to draw and by the end of the session I had completed 55 picture slides for my circular walk cycle. The shoot was done at home using the Stop Motion App. In criticism of my first animation I would say it would be even better if the film presentation was better. I personally am not proud of the floor and cupboard being visible in the background.
Front And Side Walk Animations
During day 2 of the first week working on the stick figure cycles I found it highly difficult to get the front and side still walks right. My timing of movement for the characters legs were often in disarray and if not the legs the arms had no coordination. It took me extra time and multiple days and trials to finally get the results I was pleased with for the two animations. Below is my rather rigid journey of progress to achieve the two walk cycles, or at least one of them in this case.
As seen in the video to the side, one of my first animation tryouts was unsuccessful as the legs began to speed up during the walk cycle, causing my stick figure to appear as if they were limping. It turns out my problem with this particular animation was that when switching the pressure to the right leg during the walk I had drawn the leg going forward too short. This accident cost me my success in completing this animation, as well as my time spent drawing it. However on the positive side, my side walk was changed and looked much better
Stair Cycles:
When coming to the stair walk animation I had to take in basic animation skills and understand the importance of visual research. This was one of the first animations where I had to take a more natural and personal approach to my work. I had to find figures of inspiration, get out of my comfort zone and practice my drawing skills more; this was specifically because the stair cycle needed two versions of itself and both had to be different. I planned to show this difference by making the ages of the characters clearly differ by the style of walking.
Despite having that plan in mind, I was still unsure of how to have a figure move up and down stairs and I needed visual help and research to aid in me starting the cycle. In order to get the stair cycle done, I had videos of my classmates walking up and down the stairs one by one and spent my time studying the videos and their every move for my animation.
Once I had figured out the movements I proceeded to start my first figure going up and down the stairs. My first figure was meant to be a fairly middle age man just about settling into the ageing phase. His movements had to be at a moderate speed, not too fast yet not too slow, yet they had to show some form of struggle while in action. I would not say I managed to do this perfectly but I did manage to include that mild sense of struggle while my figure pushed themselves upstairs with their shoulders constantly heaving while they pushed themselves up to reach the top of their destination.
As I sketched the images I tried as best as I could to have the stick figure appear as if he/she were struggling with their journey on the stairs. This is why I had the character looking slightly wasted, with their head being almost slumped back as they went down the steps, and very bent over (almost seeming to faint and fall on their face) when moving up. I found these little details important for the style of walk and defining the age of the subject.
When coming to the child I took a completely different approach. The arms were more active on the child stick figure and the movements were quicker. In addition I thought my figure would have looked even more childish if I made them jump down the stairs and skip over the supposed last two steps. One could say I did that because I wanted to finish the child animation quicker, but even if it were true I still think that move captured an essence of childishness without a doubt. I also found it relevant to add since I often observe children going up or down stairs and they tend to quickly skip steps going up or jump over the last ones while on their way down. It was a charming quality I thought to add to the sequence. In addition I realized my animation style had become more fluid. When watching my middle aged stick figure move in comparison to my child stick figure the difference was clear. The middle aged figure had more rigid movements whereas my child figure seems to be pulsing with more energy and the movements were smoother. At that moment I think it was safe to say that my style had improved moderately in terms of movement.
Stand Up Sit Down Cycle:
When coming to this cycle, once again like I had done for my stair case animations, visual research was key and a big help in giving me an idea of how the movement of a person works. For this particular and final part of the project, a stick figure had to be made standing up from the ground, walking a few steps forward to take a seat in a chair. In order to help me, once again I had two of my classmates do a range of poses for me for the action of standing up, walking and sitting down in order for me to complete this film. I drew each pose as a way to guide my idea of how a stand up sit down action was meant to go. By the end I had completed twelve quick sketches of each poser that mimicked the actions of the live models/ classmates and I was ready to start my animation.
My first animation managed to pull through well, however I noticed the size of my characters back was shrinking throughout the loops cycle. I did not like this particular aspect about my animation and as a result of my distaste for it I decided not to make it my main stand up sit down cycle. However since I am also recording progress from failure I have added the animation onto this blog as well.
Since I did not feel any ounce of pride in my first stand up sit down animation, I did not hesitate to replace it with something better than the first. And rather than going for a common stand up and sit down I aimed to do a toddler doing the action. I'll admit the whole animation for the toddler was all drawn based on memory of how they stand up and sit down. I had to try and include a sense of pressure and struggle within the figures action as well as life and energy to reflect their youth; this had to be added since toddlers find it challenging to stand up and walk compared to older people. There had to be a continuous balance between the figures legs and arms as they're both used to help lift the body up to stand; as well as a bit of a stumble as the toddler walked, hence why the figure appears to have a little stomp as they walk due to the pressure of weak and chubby legs. In the end I was happy with this stand up sit down adaptation and it is now my main cycle for this part of the sequence. My animation fundamentals were now all complete.
Since I had come to the end of this project I had all my animations edited onto Adobe Premier Pro and presented as one film altogether. I will admit the quality of some animations could've been showcased much better and I will critique myself on that aspect of my work, however in future I hope to do better in terms of work presentation and will be sure all my future work is presentable in the time to come. Until then, this is the end of my first blog post and I will see you ladies and gentlemen again in my next upcoming uploads.
ADOBE PREMIER PRO FILM COMBINATION:
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