Capitan Benezuela Animation

Converting Capitan Benezuela into an animation is complete (for now) and ready for coursework submissions. Feedback from my peers has been very positive and like the comic it evokes a similar response, a good giggle then a "I wanna know what happens next!" Im relieved it has been received well.

There are a couple of wee issues that I will be attending to this week. The first is the fact that there are a couple of timing issues. The animation lingers on the third shot a bit too long, the sound cuts off very abruptly at the end of the piece and I have just noticed there is overlap of camera flashes on El Capitan when there is the close up of his chest. These will be taken care of before the final presentation and exhibition.

The animation has been successful in conveying the narrative and tone of the comic which was the main goal of the project; to explore the relationship between the mediums of sequential art and animation as well as the affordances between them.

Producing this part of the project has been really useful as far as putting that all in to context. There are clear advantages and disadvantages to both types of visual storytelling. 

For example, in the comic pages the viewer is able to pause and explore the art at their leisure as they read where as in the animation they are not. So in the case of the "Mucho Gusto" moment the comic gives the viewer a chance to get a better look at the crowd and notice the White Skull observing. In the animation however, this degree of control is taken from the viewer, relying on the animator to make it more obvious before cutting into the close ups at the end. I feel in this case I could have been handled more effectively. BUT in the animation the viewer is given voice acting for the dialogue, sound effects for atmosphere and the scenes can be given the illusion of life through degrees of movement within the panels.
Overall I feel the animation has been successful in translating the sequential art into animation but if I were to do it again I would make some changes to the process. The comic and animation would be planned out in tandem in order to get the best results in the end products. This was not possible this time around as this direction to take the project did not present itself until later on in the year.
Now time for submissions work submissions, not wrestling.

Business Cards

With the Graduate Exhibition coming up for the end of 4th year at Abertay. For this we need to produce business cards to put out with our displays.

The first features the first painting I produced at the beginning of the project. This Spartan/Spawn design was received well by lecturers and my peers so that seemed like a good fit.
The second was produced last year as part of a series of animal portraits I was doing, a few of which were used in my Creative Research project when researching visual art styles. I chose this one as I feel that it is one of my strongest paintings that I have produced at Abertay.
Before sending these to print I will need to include a link to my online portfolio.
The third features the cover art from the Capitan Benezuela preview comic.... Just seemed to make sense XD
A final decision will be made and they will be printed in preparation for the Exhibition.

Exhibition Display Layout

For our end of year exhibition I will be hanging development for the main characters of the comic, El Capitan and the White Skull. I have compiled various elements of their designs on to boards for hanging.

The comic cover will be printed A3, the pages will be printed on A4 then trimmed down and the development boards will be printed on A3 then also trimmed.
Before getting these printed I will take measurements of the wall I have been assigned, resize everything accordingly in Photoshop then get it sent to the printers.
The rest of my portfolio submission will be uploaded to the interface we have attatched to our displays.

Animation Update.

The animation has been completed, voices have been recorded and the animation itself has been re-timed based on the new dialogue. Final sound effects are being put together with the help of Mr McCarter and all going according to plan (as things ALWAYS do.......) we should be good to go for submissions....... hopefully ; )

Animation Crew

The Crew has been assembled, their roles have been sorted and contracts have been signed in blood.

Juan has been roped in to provide the voice of the narrator in the animation. After all, he is Venezuelan so who better to tell the story?

One of my peers, Mr Andrew McCabe has also offered his voice acting skills and will be providing the voice for Brucito (The ring announcer).

Willy McCarter, one of Abertay's (most awsomest) audio students has kindly said that he will help to produce the audio for the animation.

I will be providing the voices for El Gigante and Capitan Benezuela.

Each of them will be rewarded with various animal based edible goodness (probably steaks). Good thing I worked as a chef for my timer prior to coming to Uni.

Animation Direction

Now the comic is now being transformed into a Limited Animation, to keep myself right I needed to create some kind of storyboard. For this the sequence of pages have been used to create this.

The directions are subject to change. When it is put together in After Effects there might be parts that work better other ways, we will see....

Limited Animation

Limited Animation: Bridging the Gap.

Limited animation is a process or method which can be employed to make animations that do not rely on redrawing entire frames, instead animating elements within images to give the impression of life.

The original intention for this style of animation was to form a method of animation that could emulate the cinematic experience of a traditional animated feature without the heavy production costs. Animation studios also commented on the comparison of cost; “Look, every time I move my arm, it costs the Cartoon Network forty-two bucks! (evil laugh) Look, look!” (moves his arm back and forth repeatedly) “42, 84, 126.” (Space Ghost: Coast to Coast).

Limited animation has been used to great effect in anime, the stylised Japanese animation form. Isaac Kerlow described use of Limited Animation in anime as an “abundance of motion holds; embellishment of static scenes with wind effects; minimal animation of facial expressions on static bodies; camera POVs [point of views] with extreme perspectives; looped character animation cycles over looped background motion” (Kerlow, 2009).

Limited animation has become a popular vehicle through which computer games companies convey their narratives. One early example of this can be seen during the “CODEC” conversations between Snake and his superiors in Konami’s “Metal Gear” game series. Konami also used limited animation to create elaborate motion comic style cut scenes in their PSP additions to the series “Metal Gear Solid: Portible Ops” and “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker”. These were produced by illustrator Ashley Wood who’s art style is reminiscent of the series long running concept artist Yoji Shinkawa. 

MGS Peace Walker Cutscene 1

Blizzard employed Limited animation with great success when producing promotional material for “World of Warcraft: The Mists of Pandaria”. Blizzard’s story and illustration teams wanted to tell the story of the last Emperor of Pandaria in an engaging and fresh way. When asked why the Burdens of Shao Hao was not a fully animated feature Doug Gregory explains: “It was a stylistic necessity of the project. And that limitation actually made it wonderful, because it gives you the -- you just have these brackets at the very beginning -- we're not the cinematics department.” The "storybook" aesthetic that was achieved through this en devour really is something to behold.
The six part feature was well received by players of World of Warcraft, readers of the series lore as well as by many who have never played the games. I myself have not played any Warcraft based games since Warcraft 3 but this animated series not only made me very interested in the lore but also opened my eyes to the capabilities of this medium.

Burdens of Shao Hao 1 - Doubt (3D until 3:12)

Blizzard took this further, using these techniques to introduce expansions to their universe in "The Warlords of Draenor".

Warlords of Draenor - Kargath (3D until 1:27).

As seen in both of the above examples, limited animation is incredibly flexible when it comes to art styles. Even the most detailed and expressive styles can be brought to life with a consistency that would require tremendous resources to achieve were they to be done traditionally.
In 3D animation the issue of consistency may be overcome but this may require costly investment to develop the technology to achieve the required aesthetic.