Ss2 welcome to whats new in 2012

Welcome to 2012

These are the beautiful gifts from the family thought id share with you my many interests amongst other animation gifts,Christmas was a great time to spend with the family but most of that time was taken up writing my dissertation which is,

"An Exploration of enduring appeal of Physical Comedy and how this translates to Animation"

 The dissertation has been such a learning experience so far and as far as my knowledge of comedy and techniques I'm getting then when Specialist study 2 starts i will be applying my knowledge from specialist study one but making more of a professional attempt of making a short film still with a deadline but with more time to prepare everything story,character,acting,set design,rigging and most of all my wonderful audience.
This month I'm preparing on getting my dissertation finished, start story with that character personality which also drives the narrative, also will be taking a trip down to Bristol to go to the well renown Slapstick festival to wider my knowledge and understanding of timing and how i can target my physical comedy from well acclaimed actors and comedians.

Laurel and Hardy Boxset

Much anticipated present which I've been interested in for years only being able to watch the odd clip here and there now when il be referencing characteristics when there are a dewo on screen il have what i need to know what works,with over 21 discs and more films than there are discs I'm sure to have a good starting point for my narrative and my character building.

Ss1-Compilation of tests and my slides for friday

                                     

I've come to the end the term and its that time again for presentations, here are my slides below so check them out and above a little showreel from specialist study 1 to gather all my test and my animation together.

Evaluation for Specialist Study1

This specialist study 1 has been the most beneficial term of my whole time at university being an all out stop motion fan and practitioner for many years being able to specialise in what i want its been a long time coming and from this I've learned many things the first being if you want something you've got to work for it and ask the stupid questions,test everything and target what i do to get the best result.
               First was making an armature I clearly thought I had this one in the bag using all the right materials but when it came to animate the magnets weren't strong enough and the armature was top heavy and so switched to a professional armature to get the best results when animating.
               Having my original brief of 3 ten-second clips was changed once I decided to combine a competition brief and stick to physical comedy to specialise which gave me chance to come up with an original narrative which is simple and was clear to an audience of 4-7 years.
               My set was a practical solution which made sense to be able to get movement freely with the character having magnets not work for keeping the character standing,this gave opportunity to try using tie downs and in doing so I learn't more software like illustrator and cad to make all the holes I used a Cnc machine which put the holes through from the co-ordinates I gave from illustrator.
               When animating there were many things I learnt from putting everything in place for animating main things to remember were to make sure to tie everything down,make sure charger is kept full and is in a place easy to change battery without taking camera off the tripod.
              The animating really was where I learnt to keep thinking of where each scene is going in terms of movement of character and how to space each movement for the fps I was using,also to keeping looking at the storyboard and live action referencing.
              Keeping to a deadline was a goal which I was glad I achieved for both briefs having four weeks to prepare for Canimation and then animate with focus for about four days which gave me confidence and improved my animating skills.

Ss1-Look at that wind - test

Ss1 Tests

Coming to the end of specialist studies one and to be honest I've impressed myself with my focus with all my research done filled out an entire sketchbook.Entered a competition for Red bull with a full advert which covers my age range set for ss1 4-7years with physical comedy engaging the audience to keep them wanting to complain if their internet goes half way through my advert.

From there I've been working on drawing out a few simple sketches and finding inspiration from the post before which describes where physical comedy is used best. Also to go with my earlier animation i will be doing mock up tests giving life to objects to give them a life like quality and with my puppet to create snippets to compile into a showreel ready for the end of this year to place on my website which is being made.

Here i've taken an idea and expanded it to add humour.

This snippet was done twice as the first test was lifeless and didn't really make gravity look believable or that the object had any weight.There will be three clips put together to make a short piece which will have rigging left in to show the focus, the animating.

getting back to the felts ruff of a shot in the sketch.

Another post will be up more often as soon as a test is done which will be a lot quicker as there won't be any rig removal so hope to have enough to show by friday at least then ill enjoy a talk by Director of Pirates Peter Lord this saturday in bristol pretty excited.

How i look as a Caricature - well i think its pretty accurate

Also this sketch was done by a friend of mine,check out his blog here - Joe Blakeston practicing characterise friends for his Ss1 

Ss1-Acting Inspiration in Physical Comedy for the Animator

Buster Keaton (acting)


This is the first gag which really stood out by Buster Keaton which was simple yet effective because of the sutlety of what is going on as you think you know whats going on then suprises the audience with a little gag.

Chaplin film (acting -Downey Jr.)
the next gag which is simular to this is on the Chaplin film starring Robert Downey Jr. when he reads a post from the bottom to top which is a simple gag but to do takes inventiveness and creativity also to pull off is another thing.

Buster Keaton (acting-steamboat bill jr)
This hat gag has so many things which make it great the three part gags,the way buster can make the ausience know what is going to happen before it happens then still makes it funny with his reaction, there is also the camera being the mirror for the scene which works perfectly would like to bring a likeness of all these aspects into my animations.



The physical acting of keaton shown when can fall over with such acrobatics but also make it belivable this next clip show Keaton fighting the wind and going against it where just captures the audience so well.



This next clip is probable some of the best comedy acting ever just so well placed timed and reaction to what is happening.



The General -Buester Keaton
This clip as the train leaves is well put together and like before the timing for when he notices whats happening is spot on along with his reaction,there needs nothing else to that scene its kept simple which is a good thing.



Chaplin clips (Acting)
This next clip from Charlie Chaplin which is all about small movements not really full body acting just small actions at a time which the audience will pick up on and add to the empathy of the character which your portraying.



A scene from Goldrush showing Chaplin eating his own shoe was acted out so well i know he was known as a perfectionist and would do takes till something was perfect but the casual nature which eat mouthful is acted out just makes it that bit more beliveable.



there was another clip which is helpful from the goldrush where chaplin is excited from seeing this girl and is jumping round the room shown and analised by Ed Hooks last year.

Fred Astaire -(working with props/objects)
Found this guy great just flows with an objects and brings life and imagination to things around him which in a way is also used a lot in slapstick but this would have come after buster/chaplin era.



Jackie Chan
How Buster Keaton became a big infuence for Jackie Chan, Chan talks about this in his biography and openly says where he gets most his material from like Picasso said "Great Artists Steal" which is true if you watch this clip below proves how Buster Keaton made physical comedy great.

Slapstick Festival

Also the Slapstick festival i spoke about in my previous post which is very promising which is on this coming January in Bristol,recently found this showreel of pictures from this years slapstick festival-


this seems very promising and will be very excited if i get the all clear and get to go.

Shaun the sheep film you say!

taken from the bbc site

Aardman Animations plan new Shaun the Sheep film

Shaun the Sheep is filmed at Aardman's Bristol studio

Continue reading the main story

Aardman Animations, the Oscar-winning company behind Shaun the Sheep, has started work on a new feature film starring the character.

Writers at Aardman's Bristol HQ have begun developing a script for the film, which is hoped to be ready by 2013/14.

The company won an Oscar in 1993 for the Wallace Gromit film "The Wrong Trousers" and then again in 1995 for "A Close Shave".

The first TV episode of Shaun the Sheep was shown on the BBC in March 2007.

'Slapstick films'

Aardman creative director Richard Goleszowski, 51, said one of the inspirations behind Shaun the Sheep was the 1920s silent movie star Buster Keaton.

Mr Goleszowski said: "My goal is to make a modern day silent movie starring Shaun. When we started writing the television series we stuck a picture of Buster Keaton on the studio door.

"I grew up watching slapstick films and some of the jokes have become embedded in my psyche."

He said that the senior team at Aardman had been thinking about running screenings of silent films to help the newer animators develop their skills.

'Remain silent'

He said one of the reasons he had originally developed Shaun the Sheep as a non-speaking character was because animation with dialogue is time consuming and expensive.

He said: "I thought making him silent would make it cheaper and easier but it makes life more difficult.

"Telling a story through pictures means you can't cut corners. It's very cinematic and involved."

Richard Goleszowski will be speaking at the Silent Comedy Festival in Bristol on 30 January at 1400 GMT at the Watershed.

This proves great news for my future to aspire to work for a feature like this would be a dream come true and proves that silent slapstick comedy is ever important and should never be forgotten and would be proud to see it grow and be a part of that.

Ss1-Deadline coming and Slapstick Festival

Firstly thought i'd include a post on my current progression on my specialist study 1 updating what will happen from now until the deadline of the 8th of december, for my showreel i will be concentrating on showing my animating acting ability by shooting a short clip around 15-30 seconds showing a scene from 'The General' animated but will show a simple scene that still works showing silent comedy.

     

          Secondly just browsing the internet and found some great news about a silent comedy festival which is held in the same place as Encounters the animation festival i went to last week,the silent comedy festival will be help in january and has some big names another reason for the General picture is about because they will be showing a new score. (more information below)

Now in its unprecedented eighth year, Slapstick Festival’s annual silent comedy gala presents three comic film masterpieces celebrating the great silent comedians of yesteryear. Our special host for the evening is the inimitable comic actor and writer Griff Rhys Jones, supported by ‘master of ceremonies’ Chris Serle.

Buster Keaton’s feature length classic comedy, The General (1926), is considered a masterpiece of cinema. Set in the American Civil War, Buster Keaton plays Jonnie Gray, who is unable to enlist in the Confederate army because he is needed as a railroad engineer. His sweetheart, who thinks he’s a coward, won’t talk to him until he’s in uniform.

The evening will also feature shorts from Laurel & Hardy in The Finishing Touch (1928) and Charlie Chaplin in The Adventurer (1916).

Plus, all of the films will be accompanied live, including a world premiere of a new score for The General, composed and conducted by Guenter A. Buchwald and performed by The European Silent Screen Virtuosi and Bristol Ensemble. The Matinee Idles, featuring Paul McGann, will also perform on the night.

Ss1-Buster Poster and Inspirational xmas films

Buster Keaton Poster has arrived!

ROUND 1- Buster Keaton Poster

A little treat to go up on the inspiration part on my wall, a lot of the posters were vintage and all had different styles simplistic posters and comic style like the one above which I had to add to my wall portraying busters on screen character and the suttle expression used throughout his films.

Getting into the Christmas spirit 

With some old classics re-mastered Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer and Santa is coming to town.

Stop motion classics which have good christmas stories for younger audience.

Both £3 in Tesco's and worth it to get styles and ideas from.

Clear throughout watching these christmas classics the techniques they used but the way they apply then in a neat way is interesting to see with replacement mouths and fixed strong armatures but clean and neat sets and the costumes and animal clothing were impressive and gave me ideas for when animating cloths which help also try other materials like silicone or latex and maybe try carved wood with material on top.

Ss1:Canimation here! Bristol Encounters update.

                   Canimation Entered,Encounters was just that in a networking perspective.

Well here it is folks! 'No Bull' my Canimation entry for the student stop motion area, there are still acting out scenes tests to come in a later post, there are two weeks to get as many views,comments and likes for my animation the top 10 get put infront of a pannel to decide the winner.
 recent activity incudes entering Canimation, i went down to Bristol to Encounters where i was inspired after meeting the likes of David Sproxton and Jon K got some golden advice from David and a picture with jon k. I will first show my animation then talk about Encounters.

                            
                                            'No Bull' from Gareth hirst on Vimeo.
                                    30 second stop motion animation by Gareth Hirst.

From now until my Specialist study deadline i will be working on animating my charcter only,what i mean is when specialising in stop motion you get the likes of set building,armature making,rigging and of course more but what i would like to do is strictly animate.
For the next couple of days il be looking at buster keaton and picking apart a small scene and reinact it with my animation abilitys with my Armature.

Encounters Festival

The boat from 'Gulp'

Myself with sculpter and Animation model maker at Aardman Amanda Darby
Gave some great advice and gave me chance to see a model from the new Aardman feature 'Pirate's' and from then my poster has been ordered with a buster keaton poster.

john k  :Cartoons and signing session

wheres gareth? photo by John k.

Great to see a lot of his work up on the big screen and talk to him, such a character and a real nice guy.

Really appreciated this and will have a better quality when John uploads to his blog.

Ss1-Preparation Before animating 'No Bull' Canimation

Stages before animation.
Animation up next week if can't wait link at bottom of post.

Using  a junior saw to get the neck as low as possible.

The neck was sawed about 2cm to be able to get the head closer to the body as at the time was out of proportion.

Getting the set ready

Greenscreen had to be sprayed just before animating because i didn't have a board big enough to fill the entire space behind the character.

Head and hands into place

waiting for araldite to dry aprox 2 hours.

Oh still waiting but once try totally worked a charm

Keeping everything tidy and all models used before kept safe with materals i won't need while animating away safely in a box.

Lighting and shadows

Boardered up window with thick black card.

When coming to animating i new i wouldn't have the best lighting so i didn't want to hinder anything else to the animation by having flash or every frame being a shade different.

then curtains done up to make extra sure

Holding everything in place 

This picture above shows theres a clamp holding a clamp down because of issues of having the set move and the clamp didn't want to stay in place so to give it that little extra hold.

Covering the light from the laptop so it doesn't refrect onto any of the shots.

Furthest clamp away holding an area which wasn't as steady.

More clear image of the clamp holding the clamp.

Scale

Getting the scale right i used greenscreen for the background because original was to small and got an extra large size can of redbull.

As you'll notice the tie'downs left loads of freedon when walking.

Background images from original set to use as greenscreen.

this was the one chosen for obvious reasons so clear ans no refrection.

Acting out tests.

Seeing how to get the redbull easy to animate.

In the end i found a shot glass round the house used that to hold small amounts of redbull then dab it on using a paint brush.

No Bull by Gareth hirst #canimation 

Ss1- Preparing animating station checklist.

List to remember when preparing animating station.

Own reference for next time.

1. charge camera to fullest.
2. Clear workspace.
3. Bring out the set.
4. Camera and character.
5. Block out any light that might hinder a shot.
6. Tie everything down (clamps,loose wires,tripod).
7. Give enough space within set and camera to animate.
8. Check lights and shadows match up.
9. Make sure to take the shot from the same place incase floor is unbalanced and wobbles the tripod.
10. Keep animating station clear to cause less chance of loosing tie downs throughout animating.
11. Don't keep the lights on for too long at a time (taking a break let the lights do the same).
12. Happy animating with less problems.

Ss1-Canimation final stages of post production.

Canimation is on!

sheduel/plan

Really packed weekend after speaking to my tutor i realised its worth me working til i've got something than just writing off the Canimation project,il be animating from where my armature and restantes of how far i've come but brush up after and evaluate the process.

The sheduel is crammed of animating from today right through until monday but hope to be putting the final render together on monday and put a sound clip to the animation from the choice they give you from the site.

Tonight im working on what has to be done to make animating possible then as soon as i'll be animating to the storyboard which i've set and altering slightly to accommodate my rigging limitations.

Final coat of skin colour and latex on top to hold the foam together round the eyes for when the eyes move.

Much more clear seeing the coats of latex trying.

Eyes a lot more clear and don't fall out which would have caused problems when animating.

Less obvious to notice the tape with the latex on top of the foam tape.

Hands with final coat and looking better with the same skin colour.

 Hands and head on armature as soon as ready then animation begins right through to 3am like set on the sheduel then 10am wake up and carry on.Only thing which is going to really hinder my performance is not being able to use the correct lighting because of limited stock in uni but hopefully without leaving desk lights on for to long they will do the job.

Ss1-Making sure the eyes don't pop out.

On the edge of ready to animate.

As you'll notice apart from the obvious of no eyes there isn't enough room for the eyes to move about and easily fall out so there must be a way around it without starting another puppet so I tried thickening out around the eyes did't really do much.
The next step was to have some tape blocking the eyes from falling out so get the right size tape latex it in place then paint on top but fit the eyes in first so the paint doesn't crack, thats another thing there isn't a lot of movement in the face so the paint does't have to strain on the movements(which causes cracks).
 

 Latexing several pieces of tape in place, the only problem was the tape being bright yellow the face colour didn't really match and so the whole head needed to be painted to also cover cracks from previous latex layers which weren't thick enough so peeled when they were touched.

As you'll notice trying out different pigments of skin tone but all turning out too pink.

Latex trying on the hand just after trying out a skin pigment and wanted to see how the colour changed with latex on top.

 Head painted and thickened around the eyes.

Base coat first,he's not tanned.

Plenty of space to get the eyes in and move the foam tape around the eyes.

First coat of second skin tone which will be a lighter version once paint try s.