Study Task 2 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I recently just watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and it is a stunning piece of animation. It has a beautiful art style, integrating 2D and 3D together seamlessly, and still getting that comic book feel.

One thing that particularly stood out to me was the colour-bleed-depth effect, which I later found out was called chromatic aberation. I attempted to recreate this in a small study piece of fan art.

Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse has no doubt turned a lot of heads, and this made me realise that animation can be very powerful not just in the animation world, but in the broader film industry too. In the future, I might look at animating feature films and/or animated films as part of a studio (or as a freelance animator if I'm big enough!)

Before chromatic aberation

After chromatic aberation

Study Task 7 - Social Media Pro

My current social media for art-related stuff:

• Instagram - @prathik_art
• Newgrounds - produde123
• Twitter - ProDude_123
• Tumblr - prathik-art

I use these as an online portfolio/ art log book, to track my progress and interact with artists with similar interests. Also for self-validation...

 I usually post illustrations of things that interest me, with the occasional animation (since they take longer to make). Sometimes I will document my process too, with work in progresses and/or timelapses.  

I plan to restrict my Instagram account into a more professional account, to reach out to potential clients. This will meaning unfollowing all the meme accounts and making a separate private account. 

Twitter is really receptive to work in progress animations, this could be the platform that I post more regularly on, while Instagram will be my polished portfolio type social media platform. 

Newgrounds will be the art platform to post art that doesn't fit in either. 

I plan to post at least 2 work in progresses per week, with finished pieces sprinkled in between. When I have more free time (like during Easter and Summer) I plan to bump this up to 2 finished pieces per week.

I want to try to narrow down my focus on what type of animation I produce, but for now it is a tie between looping animations and/or tradigital hand drawn animation.

Study Task 2 - Special effects

I am an avid fan of Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe series. So much so, that I obsess over the smallest details - especially the special effects.

I love the bubbly aesthetic, with child-like wonder in the show, I even tried to implement that into my Character and Narrative story, which is why I volunteered to do the special effects in our group.

Steven Universe special effects slowed down

By going through an episode, frame by frame, I managed to replicate some of the sparkles, energy and intensity, in the Sally's invitation scene;

What went well: 

•  Special effects usually enhance visuals but they are rarely, consciously noticed. Actually studying special effects helped me animate them better.

What could be improved:

• I could experiment with different types of 2D special effects, such as steam, smoke, fire and water,
• I need to know the rules and limits, have I used too many sparkles?

Study Task 5 - Copyshop

I've been posting my art online since late 2015, but I've only recently seriously invested time and energy to making my brand. 

My main internet art place is Instagram, where I've been posting quite a lot. Although there are a few, personal, unprofessional aspects, such as the highlights, I don't mean to monetize this account yet. 

 

I use my Instagram as a documentation of some sorts, where I experiment and mess around with things I find interesting.  

I even went so far as to make a pie chart of my Instagram posts!

Instagram has standard U.S copyright rules, so I can only post artwork I've created as long as they don't violate Community Guidelines. However, this doesn't stop people from "reposting" artwork or posts... but I don't really find reposting (with credit to me) annoying...

I also occasionally post collaborative artworks with other artists on Instagram, but I make sure to ask for permission and credit them in that post with their social media handles:

I also post artwork on Newgrounds, but I initially used it as a platform to participate in competitions. Newgrounds focuses much more on animations and storytelling, unlike Instagram which is slightly more diluted. 

Newgrounds makes it clear which Creative Commons license you want to use which I find quite helpful. 

I don't really feel the need to watermark my work, as I am not making money off any of it (due to visa restrictions) but I do occasionally sign the bottom-right of my art pieces. 

UPDATE:

I have since updated my Instagram, and made a separate personal account (I also did this with my Twitter):

Study Task 2 - T̶H̶E̶ L̶I̶N̶E̶

The Line is an animation studio that inspires me because of their ratio of quality of work to size of studio. I feel like I'd perform best in a small studio which I why The Line is a great example to take inspriation from. I got the chance to meet Max Taylor and Tim McCourt at Manchester Animation festival this year, and learn a lot about how to put together a successful studio. Their social media presence is also something to remark about.

I managed to meet them at MAF and managed to speak to Max Taylor to ask a few questions; I found out they started off as a group of freelancers, and spent the first 6 months making animations for their showreel and not earning anything. They pursued ideas they enjoyed, or were interested in, and got paid work from studios that saw them. This is a rough template of what I will attempt to do for my brand in the future.

Joyride by the Line

This animation was widely acclaimed and eventually caught the attention of Jamie Hewlett, which landed them the project of animating the music video for Humility, by the Gorillaz

Study Task 4 - Networking

LinkedIn account

Festivals:

Leeds International Film Festival:  01/11/18 - 16/11/18
MAF: 13/11/18 - 15/11/18
Leeds Animation Workshop by London Feminist Film Festival: 02/12/18
UK Premiere Animation 2018 (BBC4): 19/11/18
London Games Festival: 02/04/19 - 14/04/19
Insomnia64 (Birmingham): 19/04/19 - 22/04/19

Openings/Exhibitions:

Leeds Arts University Post Graduate Show: 23/11/18 - 29/11/18

Premieres:

Wreck-it-Ralph 2: 21/11/18
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse: 14/12/18
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon: 15/05/19

Study Task 3 - Who do I want to be?

 What I believe to be my S.W.O.T.:

What my peer (Halli) believe to be my S.W.O.T.:

I realized I seem to either overthink or rush the planning/preproduction stage, so I need to find a balance. There needs to be a time for planning and a time for action, and I think only experience will help me find that balance... The modules in the course should give me some trial ground to experiment with how best to plan my time. Maybe I should take on a bullet journal too. 

I also feel I need to push myself to network more and get out there, I can do this by going to events like MAF, but also event that are outside the course like the London International Animation Festival

Study Task 1 - Who am I now?

• Things I learned so far:
• 12 principles of animation
• Industry standard software
• Pitching ideas and presenting
• Documenting my process/ blogging
• Pre-production techniques - storyboarding, character development

• Things that I want to know more about:
• Games design (coding and sprite design)
• Concept art
• Colour theory
• Organising a team and allocating workload
• Shot framing and camera angles

• Skills that I think are my strengths:
• Character design
• Looping animation
• 3D keyframing and posing
• Tweening
• Character animation

• Things that I want to improve:
• Background design and composition
• Directing
• Scriptwriting 
• Character animation
• Sound & music design

• Practitioners that demonstrate my interest in animation:
• Rebecca Sugar
• Alex Hirsch
• Genndy Tartakovsky
• Brett Jubinvile
• Felix Colgrave

• Websites/online resources that interest me within the creative industries:
• Golden wolf
• Skwigly
• Rubberonion
• Quickposes
• CartoonBrew

Studio Brief 3 - Evaluate

Here are some notes I took in bullet points to form content for my presentation:

• What have you learned 
• Theory:
• Walk cycles
• 12 principles
• Stages in making an animation
• Practical:
• Maya
• After Effects rigging

• What do you want to learn?
• This year:
• TV paint
• Group work
• Next year:
• Character animation
• Special Effects
• 3D CGI

• What have you enjoyed during the year and why?
• In university:
• Weekly tasks in 403 - palatable, not too overwhelming, no time to procrastinate
• MAF - learnt a lot, watched a lot
• The materials and resources - kid in a candy shop, (the electric SHARPENERS!)
• Outside university:
• Friends! - amazing like-minded people
• Weather - Snow! - fascinating, awe-inspiring just like in the movies
• Independence - most important for creatives like us

• What have you disliked and why?
• Exaggeration task - slightly off topic, introduced awkwardly
• Doing it all alone/ no teamwork - difficult
• Essay writing - it's evil
• Confusing timetable - I'm not very organised

• What mistakes have you made and how have you learned from them?
• In university:
• Not saving in Maya - now I save a lot, even made a shortcut on graphics tablet
• Wasting time on one idea and then abandoning it - I should plan more
• Outside university:
• Gym membership for a week

• Has this made you consider how you do thing or will approach things in the future?
• Yes, I will plan more, maybe even buy one of those planner books

• What are your strengths and how will you develop them further and begin to apply them?

• What are your weaknesses and how do you intend to address them?
• Time management:
• Break tasks into smaller sub-tasks so I don't procrastinate
• Planning:
• Set a rule: No animating for ²/₇th of allotted time for task

• What did you want to get from the year? Have you achieved this? 
• Git gud - I guess?
• Learn 3D - yes, but still have lots to learn
• Teamwork - not so much, but did have chances between peer reviews

Study Task 10

Showreel

Study Task 9

Who's who?

David Firth

• An animator, writer and film maker
• Known for his unsettling animation style and characters, seen in Salad Fingers, and Cream. This 'unsettling factor' is what interests me
• Most of his work is distributed on the Internet, on platforms such as Youtube and Newgrounds
• Featured some of his work on the BBC
• Composes his own music too

Julia Pott

Link to video

• An animator, illustrator and comicbook artist
• Creates independent short films and also creates animation and illutrations for clients such as Sainsbury's, Oreos, and Toyota
• Also does the voice of the future clone of Emily in World of Tomorrow
• Cutesy, yet rugged art style intruiges me 

Felix Colgrave

• An animator and film director
• Creates independent short films such as Double King, and The Elephant's Garden
• Also makes music videos for bands and artists, such as DJ Mustard (Don't Hurt Me), Fever the Ghost (SOURCE) and Egg (Shoe)
• Focuses on all aspects of animation, his special effects (smoke and lighting) interest me
• Composes his own music for animations

Genndy Tartakovsky

•  An animator, writer, storyboard artist, who created many cartoon for Cartoon Network, such as Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars.
• Also directed the Hotel Transylvania animated movies. 
• Also produced Dexter's Laboratory and helped produce Powerpuff Girls
• The sharp geometric shapes of character design is something that interests me

Howard Wimshurst

Link to video

• A 2D-animator and film-maker
• Makes independent short films 
• Also made explainer videos for the BBC
• Made music videos for artists
• Logo design and animation
• Composes his own music for his animations
• I like the flowing, liquid masses of his characters' movements and the intensity of their movements

Jamie Hewlett

• A comic book artist, who co-created a popular comic called Tank Girl and also co-created the virtual band, Gorillaz
• Illustrator, animator and writer
• Created comics for a magazine called Deadline
• Created covers and artwork for bands like Senseless Things and Cud
• His art style, the boldness of the character designs is some I admire

Study Task 8

A few competitions I am interested in:

• Loop de Loop
• Character Design References 
• 11 Second Club
• Seven Second Sins
• CGTrader
• Artstation

• RubberOnion Animation Challenge - Rob Yulfo & Stephen Brooks
• Some of my previous submissions to this challenge under the username produde123:
• Food Fight
• Nature Show minus Animals

• Draw with Jazza: Challenge of the Month - Josiah Brooks
• My previous submissions:
• Legend of the Axe
• Arty Party
• Tradigital
• Style Swap
• Funky Dance Moves

Studio Brief 2 - Disseminate

I chose to do a presentation on Felix Colgrave, an animator I recently found out about, who has inspired me.

Why I chose Felix Colgrave:

• Backgrounds
• Very pastel, and aethetic
• Soft and simple
• I used a few screencaps of his music video as backgrounds for the presentation (with credit given of course)

• His art style
• Bordeline cutesy/disturbing
• Anatomically correct - loves animals 
• Eyes and eyelids

• The unsettling surrealness of his animations

• LOOPS

• The crisp refinement of his animations, even though he works alone

• His personality (relatable)

Study Task 7

Public Service/Information Animation

 

Internet Safety - Petria Seymour

(Rather cringeworthy but it's target audience is 5-7 year olds)

Elbow Grease - Joe Dunlap

[Link to video]

Because we're all connected -WWF

Artie the Angry Heart - Pink Hippo Productions

[Link to video]

Serious about Wildlife - UNODC

Doors - Alcoholics Annoymous

A qui profite la dette? (Who benefits from the debt?)- FTGB Brussels

[Link to video]

Family Planning - Disney

(Made in 1968 so this may be offensive to some today)

See Jane - Geena Davis Institute 

Charlie Brown Tooth Brushing - American Dental Association (1978)