Planning New Animations

Last semester my main focus was on learning how to animate in 2D using Adobe Animate, while I definitely don't feel like I've mastered the basics, I'm going to continue practicing with things such as the Yoko Ono animations I've taken a break on, but I'm going to shift my focus from this to how I can incorporate these skills with live action. While in my title sequence I did use some animation layered over footage for the peeling poster, and repurposed some found footage animation, my plan now is to see how I can use animation and live action in a way that looks slightly more natural than what Ive been doing so far. This will be most important for the first 10-15 mins of my final film, in which the animation is going to go from subtle differences that may be imperceptible the first time watching it. 

For my first attempt at this, I've decided to expand upon a shot that I attempted in my original concept video last semester, as well as trying to achieve one that I had planned but didn't end up having the time to attempt before the deadline. The shot that was in my concept video was these leaves having the lines appearing and disappearing. The original plan was for the existing lines to also disappear in some frames for a rippling effect, but due to how detailed and small the lines are (and my lacking photoshop skills), I could remove these in a way that looked anywhere near natural. I added the other lines on using photoshop and coding the lines and resizing them. This effect did in some part work, part of the feedback I got was that it wasn't noticeable enough unless pointed out, which was actually my goal since that's what I want the first part of the film to have. Other than that it was a painstaking process, and since I couldn't remove the original lines it didn't achieve the effect I wanted. It also wasn't really animation, so I'd like to incorporate more frame by frame animation into it into just switching between two.

I'd also originally planned to take this shot of another plant and animate the dots dripping down. At that point I planned to use adobe animate but didn't have enough experience with it to achieve this with the timeframe. I feel like now I have the understanding of the software to pull this off. Originally I had filmed these as videos with no tripod and then had to animate over a still frame because of the shaking, and while I'd rather animate over the videos frame by frame I may have to use this approach again since I'm not only adding to the frame but also taking away from it using photoshop. To keep some movement in this video I'll try having a slow zoom on it added after the animation. I may still use photoshop and the two frame approach for a couple shots once I see how the footage looks.

For now I'll be working from this storyboard. I have a few key shots that I'd like to try. I've tried to assess what the main challenges will be with each and how I can adjust my approach to make each one look most effective. 

1. For this shot I was originally planning on reattempting this with the same plant. The main challenge with it the first time was how close the lines were together and the heavy shadows on it due to the lighting. I've decided to have this whole video in quite bright sunlight (even though right now that may not be possible), to have as clean a slate to work on as possible. For this shot I've decided to once again overlay an animation over a single frame, and will use a plant with more spread out and thicker lines. I'll be doing my best to remove these using photoshop, and then colormatch the plant to attempt to animate this movement. In terms of making this as naturalistic as possible, I think that the best way to do this will be through clever shading and the use of blending modes in premier. I'll animate the initial shapes first and then use the original footage as reference to add as much shading as possible. Using blending modes and some color grading will hopefully smooth out any discrepancies. In terms of the transition between the original shot and the animated version I will have a slow fade between the two. While I'm not expecting this to look 100% natural, I'd like it to be something that I could recreate on a smaller scale in the real film, and have the same effect as the first version of this in my original concept video, subtle and perhaps imperceptible upon the first viewing. 

2. I've already mentioned how I planned to do this shot the first time I was doing this kind of effect, but now that I have more time and planning I think it'll be possible. This plant only has two block colors and the dots are quite small, so as long as the lighting is quite direct it shouldn't be too hard to remove them in photoshop and then animate over them. I plan to have the dots slowly drip off at different speeds, and once again the key to making this look how I want will be color matching, shading, blending, and color grading later on. 

3. Originally I'd thought about having this shot with an animated figure walking up the stairs of the tattoo, but I think that instead I'd like to attempt making the stairs move up kind of like an escalator. This should just be a matter of erasing the lines that show the inside of the stairs in photoshop and then colormatching and animating these lines back on moving upward. 

4. This shot will be the one that looks the least realistic so far but will probably be most difficult to pull off  since matching the colors and strokes in the original painting. This will probably take the longest as well since its a bigger image to manipulate with the most moving parts. I'm still debating whether I should have the paint look as though it is crawling over the picture frame as it spreads or if it should look like it's going under the frame and bleeding into the wall. Once again using different kinds of brushes and blending will be key. 

5. This will definitely be the most unrealistic looking shot in this whole experimentation. Stained glass has been a motif that I've been trying to incorporate for a while, and while I know I won't use this approach for the final film I think it'll be an interesting way to see how light and animation can interact. The challenge with this, as with all the aimation I've been working on, is how to make this look refined as opposed to childish. Two key aspects of this will be quite heavy sunlight through the windows, as well as hopefully some movement and shadows within this. While it will be very obvious that this is drawn over, using blending modes to make it appear that the light is shining through the illustrations will be the most important technique in making this look like it is actually part of the shot rather than just a drawing on top of it. 

6. I've not decided yet what book I'd like to animate over, but I know that I'd like it to be quite a geometrical design that will be challenging to manipulate. This may be the most challenging shot overall, since it is going to be hard to balance how realistic I'll need to make the animation look in relation to the original, along with the more surrealist movement that will be going on in it. Last semester I planned to do something similar with posters for the Acid Tests in the US, and I may have to practice on these first to understand how to make this kind of animation have the same textures as the original piece I'm animating over. 

 I'd still like to attempt animating over a scene frame by frame (possibly by exporting the whole video into animate somehow) at some point, but since I'm not only adding to most of the shots but also taking away from them, this seems to be the best way for me to be able to keep the removed parts consistent without learning some form of CGI or in-video tracking which I've seem done on DaVinci Resolve but would have no idea how to go about this on premier pro. 

Other Shots (non-animated)

Since I'll be using the shot of the actresses tattoo, I'd like to still have a few shots of her as a character, using close-ups to explore haptic visuality. It will be challenging not to make this jarring in comparison to the other shots, so I think I'll be focusing on the hands and skin, texture of clothes and fabrics around her, as well as jewellery. The focus of this will be texture, and once again, light. 

Sound Design

For sound design I've decided to really challenge myself and not use any pre-made music pieces. Instead I'll be combining elements such as risers and heartbeats to create a dreamy soundscape.