Animatic No. 1

Key Chimes...

Artificial Light experiments!!!

After filming natural light it was time to see what artificial light can do and how light can be controlled and create specific and constructed final outcomes.
In those tests I mainly played with shadows, I choose to work in monochrome just to give all my attention to the power of light(white) and shadows(black).

Shadows on the wall (1)



Shadows on the wall (2)



Russian Dolls...

Natural Light experiments!!!

These short films are some of the tests I have done in the early stage of my project. I wanted to explore the way that natural light moves between spaces, responds and reflects to different surfaces.

"Last night I went to the Kingdom of Shadows"

5th stop...



7th stop...

Origami

Origami is the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper, and using only one piece of paper

I am very interesting in the way that origami paper cranes are been constructed. To me it looks like they have an animated character within them. The way they are been fold it could be easily form an animated piece!! Having this in mind, and be fascinated by a single piece of paper creations, I want to add some origami elements to my final piece, always combine it with the use of light and shadow.

Sand Art Animation

Ilana Yahav is a sand animation artist. She is using only her fingers and draws with sand on a glass table.




I really like the effect that the sand technique creates, and they way it is portrayed. I am thinking to find a way to add this element to my work, maybe it will be a visually interesting to combine sand animation with shadows.

First Storboard

This was my first storyboard attempt,but I found my self drifting away from my initial idea. So I am going back to my starting points, to the light tests I have done and to the NO character and narrative based films:D
I am concentrating again in the way that light and shadow moves and presents and now I will create a short piece with main character the light, with no people in it.

Osbert Parker

Last weekend I was in the Flip Animation Festival in Wolverhampton, one of the speakers there was Osbert Parker, a three times British Academy Award Nominated director. He talked us about his work and his process, and I have to admit that we were all very impressed.

Osbert's work is a mixture of cut-out animation with live action, mostly to create imaginary landscapes within commercials and his own short films.His latest films "Yours Truly" and "Film Noir" have a very unique, experimenting and interesting visual style.



"Yours Truly" (2006)

































The film is about a character's burst through yesterday's emulsion to tell the conflicting story of Frank and Charlie who sacrifice their morals to find love as two worlds collide.

It 's made out from 16mm ‘in camera’ reconstructions of photo cut-outs and real objects in miniature environments.



"Film Noir" (2007)

























Film Noir is a mixed media animated adventure. Is created in-camera combining live action with animation, found objects with photo cut-outs that are weaved into a non linear narrative and manipulated into a dark story of romance and psychological tension that unfolds into a cinematic world never seen before.

Parker's Film noir is a pure extract of the best and most characteristic qualities of this classic genre in the history of cinema. This short reveals the genre's most typical methods (shooting, narration, acting) and applies its own creative code (animation, layering and overlapping of image fragments) in order to build a unique noir atmosphere and thrills.

The Art of Wall-e

Like all "Art of [something from Pixar]" books, it's an exciting look at the artistic work that goes into making an animated movie. It includes over 250 pieces of concept art, storyboards, paintings, sketches, character studies, and color scripts. It also includes quotes and explanations from the artists themselves.

Wall-e funny spots

HELLO DIGITAL

In Conversation with Michael Makerewicz, Pixar Animation Studios

• Michal Makarewicz joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2003., where he has been an animator on such features as: The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-e and the upcoming Pixar Disney "Up".

In this event Michal Makerewicz talked about the manufacture of Wall-e, which is similar to all Pixar films. He introduced us to the many phases that a feature film going through.

1. DEVELOPMENT: Research!!! (scientific aspect, observation , etc)
2. STORY: Storyboards (lots!!!), Animatics, Soundtracks...
3. ART: Characters (more research!), play models You don't need all the facial features in order to make a face!! Sets every little thing has to be made! Textures/shades
   
4. MODELLING: function
   
5. SET DRESSING: props
   
6. SHADING: texture/colour, the way everything looks
   
7. LAYOUT: Digital Cinematographers, camera work, getting the shots right
8. ANIMATION: again research!!!, reference from reality, emotions.... questions that needs answers/ always TEST!!!
9. FX: effects
10. LIGHTING: colour scripts,"the feel of the movie"/what the shot is about!
11. MATTE PAINTING: painted backgrounds
12. RENDERING
    

EVERYTHING MUST SERVE THE BEST OF THE STORY

La Antena (2007)

Esteban Sapir's "La Antena", is a monochrome movie from Argentina that is silent, or almost silent!

It has a deeply weird story that appears to have a number of interpretations, or variations on the theme:

THE INIQUITIES OF MEDIA OF MIND-CONTROL

La Antena brilliantly blends live action and animation to create a beautiful expressionist vision which referred to the early days of cinema.

La Antena its full of amazing machinery,evil henchmen even a blonde heroine which are all present whilst on-screen captions take on a life of their own in a series of playful and ingenious jokes.

"LA ANTENA IS AN AMAZING SPECTACLE OF SIGHT AND SOUND"

The style of La Antena is similar to the style I want my final piece to have. The combination between live action and animation is not used only in a way to produce more interesting visuals but it adds to the story too. Each medium gives a different meaning and feeling as the story develops.

Also, I like that the animation bits are all have "live-action" background and throughout the whole film there isn't a single moment that you can detach the one from the other.

"Invisible technology"

Like in this video-clip by Seabear the use of technology is "seamless" and it has a hand-crafted, old fashioned mood and style. This is the style that I want to explore to my work,make everything look hand-made, although that they may not be.

I am not trying to adjust a 60's or 70's style but I want to design something that it will create the feeling that is not taking place in our time but somewhere in the past, but the actual time could not be recognise.



In the Rosie Taylor Project's video clip the animation bits are more illustrative but again, even if this time you can tell what is real and what is not, the whole piece looks hand-made and organic.

Tim Burton's influnced by German Expressionism

Tim Burton was reportedly influenced by the silent German Expressionism cinema. He creates beautifully dark environments for his films and often deals with the themes of horror and grotesque.

• Personally Vincent is one of the best animations that I have ever watch!!!
  

His inspiration with Dr.Caligari is clearly appeared in his film "Edward Scissorhands" where his Frankenstein-ish character Edward clearly resembles the look of Dr.Caligari's Somnambulist servant, Cesare.

The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari (1920)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari featured just all the primary elements we associate with German Expressionim:

• anti- heroic characters at the center of the story
• which often involves madness,paranoia,obsession...
• the story is told from a subjective point of view

• a primary urban setting
• the criminal underworld
• the complex architectural and compositional possibilities offered, for example, by stairways and their railings, mirrors and reflecting windows...
• the director can play stripes, angles and geometrical forms sliced from the stark contrasts between light and shadow

Dr.Caligari can be called as the first film to deal with the concept of Psychological Horror.

First Expressionist films

• The first Expressionist films made up for a lack of lavish budgets by using set designs with widly non- realistic, geometrically absurd sets, along with designs painted on walls and floors to represent lights, shadows and objects.

• The plots often dealt with madness, insanity, betrayal and other "intellectual" topics (as opposed to standard action-adventure and romantic films)
  

German Expressionism

From Nosferatu (1922): the shadow of the vampire
is seen climbing stairs in the famous film

German Expressionism influence in filmmaking is probably the best known part of the movement.

A bit about the film in generally:
During the period of recovery following World War I, the German film industry was flourishing, but because of the stiff economic times filmmakers found it difficult to create movies that could be possible to compare with the lush, extravagant features coming from Hollywood. The filmmakers of the German UFA studio developed their own unique style by using symbolism and mise en scene to add mood and deeper meaning to a movie.

I was always fascinated by German Expressionism filmmaking. To me, it will always be amazing how a silent film can say so much.

Came inside, have a look!!!

Hello and welcome all onboard!

This is my “live diary” as I like to call it! Throughout it I will try to capture and share with anyone that is interested, my ideas, my thoughts, all my experiments, good and bad ones and most certainly the process of this project that I am about to start.

And the project’s subject is… light. Yeap, light. It’s about how light is been used though time into filmmaking and how it has been an essential element of cinematography. Through the use of light I want to create a short film (a mixture of both animation and life action), expressing a variety of emotions and demonstrating the impact that light has upon the audience. And essentially exploit light as if it was an actual character itself.

Having this as a starting point and hoping that with a bit of luck I am gonna get the best out of this blog I am ready to go …

Enjoy the ride!!

Margarita

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