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4.1 project 1 Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Uncategorised

Week 1 Advanced and Experimental 3D Computer Animation Techniques Project 1

Shot composition.

Elements of nine-pattern composition.

When an image is divided into thirds, the human eye is naturally drawn to the points of intersection.

Make the character include as many points as possible in the nine-panel frame.

The horizon should be two-thirds of the way from the top of the frame or two-thirds from the bottom.

Fibonacci sequence:

Basic shot:

EXTREME LONG SHOT

EXTREME CLOSE UP

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP

MEDIUM LONG SHOT

MEDIUM SHOT

LONG SHOT

CUT-IN

ICLOSE UP

The concept of Previs:

Previs is the process of visualizing a scene before it is created.

Previs usually takes the form of a 3D animation, i.e., a rough version of one or more scenes. They typically start with a 2D storyboard. Draft versions of different moving image sequences are created and put together using their compositing and editing skills.

The visual preview process is used to plan shots, calculate scale and timing and give a rough indication of where the character will move. It is used to plan how visual effects (VFX) will fit into other live-action scenes. Creating previews saves films and TV series and shows valuable time and money on set or post-production.

The ideas

Idea1

Set in a fantasy world

At a time when human civilization was not so advanced, and to survive in nature, they combined with monsters and left their offspring. The main characters are the offspring of birds and humans.

Reference to the ancient East

The world is dominated by gods and religion

The protagonist is the son of a divine bird

A rival force destroys the clan, and the protagonist escapes and is saved by a hunter in the mountains.

Three subplots are envisaged.

The protagonist escapes from the overthrown religion

Being rescued by the hunter and lying in the house

Watching the hunter chopping wood

Idea2

Set in a fantasy world

In a time when human civilization was not very advanced and the world was full of different kinds of monsters, the story takes place on a mountain with magical ores and a village at its foot.

The village people live off the mountain gods but are killed by greedy humans because they won’t let the merchants mine the ore recklessly, and the only protagonist who survives escapes into the mountain.

The mountain has a mountain god that looks like a white wolf, born out of the villagers’ faith, who is about to disappear because the village at the bottom of the mountain was slaughtered. As he disappears, he sees the protagonist who escapes into the mountain. The mountain god saves the protagonist and fuses with him.

Three images: the protagonist walks into the cave.

The protagonist sits down against the stone wall and closes his eyes to rest.

He hears a sound and opens his eyes to look in one direction.

In this class, we were exposed to the most basic camera language. This was the first time I had studied something like this, so this knowledge was new to me.
I was not too fond of the human story, so I decided to develop a story using previously designed characters, and if I get the chance, I’d like to make the scenes and make a rough model of the characters.

Knowledge points in the video screen:

THE DOMINANT FEATURE

The dominant feature is the object that our eyes are immediatelyattracted to and can be created by any number of techniques

SIZE: The size of an object may draw our attention to it.

In colour films, the dominant is often achieved byhaving once colour stand out from the other.Placing one object in sharper focus than the rest ofFOCUS:the shot can also create a dominant.

COLOUR:

The dominant feature in this shot is Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

THE LIGHTING KEY

Features bright, even illumination and fewHIGH KEY:conspicuous shadows. High key lighting is oftenused in musicals and comedies.

Features diffused shadows and atmospheric pools ofLOW KEY: light. Low key lighting is often use in mysteries andthrillers.

HIGHCONTRAST:

Features harsh shafts of light and dramatic streaksof blackness. High contrast is often used in tragediesand melodramas.

SHOTIANGLEIPROXIMITY

BIRD’S-EYE This shot type can be disorienting and makeVIEW: the object seem very insignificant.

This angle reduces the size of the objectHIGH ANGLE:it can make the object seem harmless andinsignificant.

EYE-LEVELSHOT:

ls the clearest view of a object.

This angle increases the size of the objectLOW ANGLE:giving a sense of power and respect.

OBLIQUEShot on an angle, suggests tension orANGLE: transition This angle is used in the example.

COLOUR VALUES

DOMINANT The dominant colour is the colour most seen onCOLOUR: the screen.

SUBSIDIARY What other colours are found on screen? DoCOLOURS: they contrast with the Dominant Colour?

COLOURSYMBOLISM:

Are the colours used because of theirsymbolism? Do they reflect the characterspersonalities or traits?

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES

After taking in the dominant feature, where does the eye go next?

The Subsidiary Feature in this shot is the Bad Guy’ in theforeground of the shot, he is slightly out of focus with his back to thecamera.

The Colour Value of his costume blend with the set design whichhelps us to focus on the main character of the scene, who’s costumecontrasts against these colours helping to make him theDominant Feature of the scene.

SCREEN DENSITY

How much visual information is packed into the image? ls the sceneSTARK,MODERATE or HIGHLY DETAILED?

Whilst there are a significant number of items or objects in thebackground of this scene, the image is not very dense because thefocus limits the viewer to taking in only two main objects:Arthur and the Bad Guy

The density of this shot is also helped by the Colour Values used, thedull room helps also us to focus on the two main objects.

COMPOSITION

How is the two dimensional space of the screen segmented andorganised? What is the underlying design? Objects in the frame canbe placed to help the audience to connect.

HORIZONTAL:

Horizontal compositions seem visually at rest andsuggest placidity or peacefulness.

Vertical compositions seem visually at rest andVERTICAL:suggest strength.

Diagonal (or Oblique) compositions seemDIAGONAL:dynamic and suggest tension or anxiety. Thiscomposition is used in the example.

DEPTH OF FIELD

On how many planes is the image composed? How much’ is in

focus?

DEEP FOCUS: Allows all planes to be in focus at the same time.

SHALLOW More commonly, shallow focus allows only one orFOCUS: two planes are in focus.

The example has a relatively Deep Focus with the majority of thescene in focus. The foreground is only slightly out of focus, whichdraws our eyes to the back of the room to The Dominant Feature.

CHARACTER PLACEMENT

What part of the framed space do the characters occupy?

The area near the top of the frame can suggest power,TOP:authority and aspiration.

BOTTOM:

SIDES:

The areas near the bottom of the frame tend to suggestsubservience, vulnerability, and powerlessnessThe left and right edges of the frame tend to suggestinsignificance as these areas are farthest from the centre

The example has our protagonist towards the top of the frameimplying power and authority. The antagonist closer to the bottomimplying vulnerability or powerlessness.

SHOT FRAMING

ls the framing TIGHT or LOOSE? Do the characters have no room tomove around, or can they move freely without impediments?

Shots where the characters are places on the edges ofTIGHT: the frame and have little room to move around within theframe are considered tight.

Longer shots, in which the characters have room to moveLOOSE:around within the frame, are considered loose and tendto suggest freedom.

The example has Loose Framing, the characters have the ability tomove around within the frame without going outside the shot.

DIEGETIC AUDIO

Diegetic Audio is a sound whose source is visible on the screen orwhose source is implied to be present by the action of the film.

Character voices, sounds made by objects in the story, music comingfrom instruments in the story space are all examples of DiegeticAudio.

it is important to note that Diegetic Audio can be either on screenor off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frameor outside of the frame (radio playing, family member playing aninstrument, thunder clap)

NON-DIEGETIC AUDIO

Non-Diegetic Audio is a sound whose source is neither visible on thescreen nor has been implied to be present in the action.

Narrators commentary, sounds effects which are added for thedramatic effect mood music / sound tracks are all examples of Non-Diegetic Audio.

It is important to note that just because you cannot see the source ofthe sound, that doesn’t make it Non-Diegetic Audio. lf the sound fitswithin the environment (birds squawking in a forest scene, car hornsnear a busy road), it should be considered Diegetic Audio.

Categories
3D Computer Animation Fundamental Maya Uncategorised

Week 10 Mouth animation(Supplementary)

This week I will be enhancing the existing mouth animation. I added the eye controller to the head. Still, I realized I didn’t need to make this controller, so I added the tongue to the model and made the texture to try and make the head more human-like.

Here is a video of the result:

First, I made a simple model of the tongue. I parented it to the skeleton and gave it a different blend shape.

This is the texture drawn in the Substance Painter:

I then added eyebrows to the figure in Photoshop, as the substance painter’s brushes aren’t very flexible.

Test rendering:

Final animation:

Categories
Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Uncategorised

Week 9 reference research

Reference01: Literature Review on Immersive Virtual Reality in Education: State Of The Art and Perspectives.

(Introduction to essential VR information / Points to note about VR consoles / Advantages of VR gaming) A literature review on immersive virtual reality education. The current state and future of the art.

Ott, M. and Freina, L. (2015) A LITERATURE REVIEW ON IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY IN EDUCATION: STATE OF THE ART AND PERSPECTIVES. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-LITERATURE-REVIEW-ON-IMMERSIVE-VIRTUAL-REALITY-IN-Ott-Freina/e93b38f3892c7357051f39be6b6574f298a3b72a (Accessed: December 24, 2022).

(Ott and Freina, 2015)

Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with using special electronic devices. In the 1960s, a mechanical device called Sensorama1 was used to create immersive VR experiences. It included three-dimensional, full-color movies, sound, smell, and movement sensations.

The Oculus Rift’s ‘Health and Safety Warning’ recommends that children under 13 should not use the device.

Immersive VR can offer enormous advantages for learning: it allows for the direct sensation of objects and events out of our physical reach. It supports training in a safe environment, avoiding potentially real dangers. It helps movement in a safe environment, avoids potentially real risks, and increases learner engagement and motivation thanks to the game-like approach while expanding the range of supported learning styles. It also raises the range of supported learning styles. The results show how most papers report on experiments in high school or adult training Higher education or adult training. Very little was said in the area of younger children and disability disabilities.

VR can bring advantages by allowing the physical exploration of objects inaccessible in reality.

People with disabilities are a population where immersive VR can make a difference. In particular, people with intellectual disabilities, in particular, can make use of this approach. Learning in a virtual environment Reproducing the natural environment minimizes the problems associated with the transfer of learning.

However, the continued emergence of teachers requires teachers to mediate and manage the use of VR tools, and the use of VR systems should be limited.

Summary of the reference:

Introduction to VR
Virtual Reality is a 3D simulated environment generated by computers after extensive calculations, and many special electronic devices have been designed specifically for virtual Reality to experience this 3D equipment in a fully immersive way. As early as the 1960s, scientists invented VR machines to experience the technology.
VR includes 3D images, a full range of stereo sound, and some advanced VR even has simulated smells and simulated visual motion effects.

Critical points of VR gaming machines.
Because the overly realistic and immersive gaming experience has the potential for a range of negative consequences (e.g., bloody violence, psychological trauma, etc.), the safety warnings for the Oculus Rift will even mark that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the device.

Advantages of VR consoles.
Its realistic, immersive experience can significantly benefit the learning environment. VR consoles can have a direct sensory impact on the user creating dangerous scenarios when in fact, the user is in a safe environment so that real danger can be avoided.
The realism of VR allows learners to experiment with objects that are inaccessible or difficult to reach in Reality and will enable learners to do so regardless of their limitations. In theory, the disabled community would be the most profitable group.
A playful approach would also increase student motivation and engagement and enhance the variety and range of learning styles.

Reference02:A systematic review of Virtual Reality in education

(Examples of VR application areas/applications in education resource saving/impact. Imperfection points/benefits)

A systematic review of virtual reality technology in education

https://www.learntechlib.org/p/182115/

Kavanagh, S. et al. (2017) [PDF] A systematic review of virtual reality in education: Semantic scholar, [PDF] A systematic review of Virtual Reality in education | Semantic Scholar. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-systematic-review-of-Virtual-Reality-in-education-Kavanagh-Luxton-Reilly/9e894cda6d4d7b2766b6fc5c7822e5d5d24472c8 (Accessed: December 24, 2022).

(Kavanagh et al, 2017)

Range of VR application areas.

Health-related: medicine, surgical education, physical education

Engineering applications: aviation, architecture, robotics

Potential applications for virtual museums, etc., etc.

Virtual museums:

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6365989

VR can be applied to simulate limited resources, such as laboratories and equipment, for high demand and limited availability.

VR can be used to simulate the interaction of cargo lift patients, to overcome the limited number of cadavers available to students for use in medical education.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6918271

Examples of VR used in English language education:

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6185131

The integration of virtual reality platforms into English education can be used to enhance learning autonomy for several reasons: language networks provide an excellent incentive for students to learn spontaneously, as they realize that online English is formed from people and events, has a strong sense of connection to reality, is of practical use, and that this type of education is flexible, has a higher level of accessibility and interactivity, as well as a more incredible wealth of language resources. It also allows students to choose their learning methods, which puts the power of learning squarely in the hands of the students.

VR software could be more usable.

Using VR software in the classroom involves the costs associated with the initial purchase of hardware and software and ongoing expenses, including maintenance. And software, but also the costs of care, support, and training (discussed more in the Training section below There is more discussion of this in the Training section below). However, the actual cost of the initial purchase of VR technology is also high. However, the actual cost of initially purchasing VR education technology is also high, and many schools may need help to justify this cost.

Gesture recognition systems are an input method in VR systems. Still, current VR technology needs to be improved to support capturing perfect gesture input, and even gesture capture with high accuracy still has many limitations.

Despite the upcoming range of HMDs, there still lacks a fit-for-all, or even widely used output peripheral for interaction with them. However, the continual development of novel input interaction technologies gives potential for new approaches to interacting within such an interaction paradigm.

Handwritten notes could potentially be displayed within virtual environments in real time. However, users would still encounter issues in orienting themselves with the device, and a noticeable delay between the physical action and the notes being displayed within the virtual environment would detract from the learning experience.

Users could use a capacitive keyboard to physically orient themselves through the virtual environment, solving the issue of blind-typing for users who cannot touch type.

Summary of the reference:

VR technology is used in various fields:

Entertainment, education, healthcare, sports, engineering, art, history, etc. There are even immersive virtual museums explicitly created for this purpose, so it is clear that VR has a wide range of uses. This article looks at the applications and implications of combining VR and gaming for the education sector.

Applications of VR in education resource-saving:

VR can be applied to simulate limited resources. When people are studying and learning something, they are constantly faced with a lack of resources. Sometimes it may just be a seat or a piece of lab equipment. More often than not, this resource is not something humans can make. For example, the corpses that medical students need to study are not artificial resources. Vr even sometimes needs to simulate natural environments that are not readily available. There are also researchers. Some researchers use VR to simulate solar resources for training and learning.

Examples of the impact of VR education:

Incorporating VR into education can also increase the spontaneity of students’ independent learning. In XX’s experiment, they discovered through real immersion that language is formed from people and events, is accurate and usable, and has a solid link to reality. With this flexible approach to education, the students have a higher and more accessible level of interactivity and many language resources. This learning style puts the students in complete control of their learning. However, in this case, the VR software also presents a problem – it is not very usable in the current context. Cost is a deterrent for most schools.

Critical points of imperfection in VR systems.

The imperfection of the gesture recognition system and current VR technology is not enough to support this fantastic idea. Even the gesture capture system with high accuracy still has many problems and limitations in achieving smooth gesture input.

Handwritten notes are one of the most traditional ways of learning. Still, the inability to take notes smoothly and quickly in a VR device with a highly centralized method of use is one of the significant problems with the imperfect VR system, and combined with the poor positioning of the previous gesture recognition system, the handwritten notes function is, therefore, inadequate. The noticeable writing delays can seriously affect the learning experience and quality of learning.

Reference03:Combining Software Games with Education: Evaluation of its Educational Effectiveness

(Positive and negative applications of VR games/positive effects on learning) Integrating software games with education. Assessing their educational effects

https://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.8.2.54

Virvou, M., Katsionis, G. and Manos, K. (2005) Combining software games with education: Evaluation of its … – JSTOR, Combining Software Games with Education: Evaluation of its Educational Effectiveness. International Forum of Educational Technology & Society, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.8.2.54 (Accessed: December 24, 2022).

Educational Technology & Society Vol. 8, No. 2 (April 2005), pp. 54-65 (12 pages)

(Virvou, Katsionis and Manos, 2005)

VR-ENGAGE is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) that runs through a virtual reality game. It consists of four components: domain knowledge, the student modeling component, the tutoring component, and the user interface.

The game allows students to reason about the domain being taught and provides the environment for a negotiated pedagogical dialogue between the ITS and the students.

Players may also encounter particular objects or animated agents that give hints or direct them to tutorial locations. These objects or animated agents will stimulate students to read and remember essential parts of the taught area.

The evaluation of VR-ENGAGE focuses on assessing the educational effectiveness of the game aspect of the educational software. The evaluation also considered student distraction from the gaming environment, but the authors believe that games should supplement traditional classroom education.

An experiment was conducted to see if ITS games could be motivating and educationally beneficial rather than distracting to students. The game ITS had a virtual reality environment and animated talking agents, whereas the ITS with a traditional user interface did not have a virtual reality environment.

The experiment relates to the basic principle of educational games: to engage students in learning the concepts taught to them in the domain. The investigation also aimed to reveal the degree of the educational effectiveness of students whose performance was considered good, moderate, or poor by their human teachers.

The results showed that VR-ENGAGE users made fewer errors than simple ITS users and that VR-ENGAGE users achieved their learning outcomes at least as effective as traditional educational software.

Improvements in the number of errors were statistically significant for poor, moderate, and excellent learners but not for good students using VR-ENGAGE.

The results showed that the subgroup of previously underperforming students who had used VR-ENGAGE benefited the most from the educational game. At the same time, the subset of once-average performers also helped.

Students who used VR-ENGAGE in-class assignments were fascinated by the idea of a classroom game but were more critical of the game than other commercial games.

(VR games are not mature as educational aids and do not achieve the level of ‘entertainment’ that other entertainment games can achieve)

Teachers were impressed by the game’s impact on formerly underachieving students in geography. These students seemed absorbed by the game environment and worked quietly without talking to anyone or disturbing other students.

(VR games can significantly engage students’ attention and keep them from being distracted while learning, dramatically increasing the motivation of children who dislike traditional teaching methods.)

Students would benefit from educational games in classrooms, and the subgroup of students who used to be poor performers had benefited the most from the game environment.

Students who are not interested in their courses may benefit from extra motivating environments such as VR-educational games, because they are able to attract the attention of students who do not concentrate easily on their assignments due to boredom or other reasons.

Students who had good academic performance did not have any significant difference in their improvement through the use of the VR-environment or the use of the other software.

Students had as much help as they needed from lab instructors during the experiment, and the game environment had to be very competitive with commercial games to attract a high degree of interest from students.

Summary of the reference:
Positive aspects.
The immersive experience of VR games can stimulate students to read and memorize essential parts of the area being taught, allowing students who are not good at the subject to focus on learning, increasing their interest and concentration levels, and making teaching more enjoyable.
Negative aspects.
Because teaching by human tutors is necessary, it only partially replaces the classroom in the traditional sense. Students need to interact with their tutors and peers in their learning. The quality of existing VR teaching games cannot be compared to the level of commercial games, so real-time interactivity could be better and needs to be strengthened to develop real-time interactivity and game quality.

Reference04:Virtual Reality with 360-Video Storytelling in Cultural Heritage: Study of Presence, Engagement, and Immersion

(360° immersive experiences/VR games contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about cultural heritage) Virtual reality and 360 video storytelling in cultural heritage. A study of presence, engagement and immersion

<https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/20/5851>

Škola, F. et al. (2020) Virtual reality with 360-video storytelling in Cultural Heritage: Study of Presence, engagement, and Immersion, MDPI. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205851 (Accessed: December 24, 2022).

(Škola et al, 2020)

The interactive underwater archaeology 360° VR application was evaluated by 15 participants using questionnaires and EEG physiological readings. The results showed that the VR experience was widely accepted by the participants, maintaining a high level of immersion and engagement while showing enhanced cognitive processing in the EEG readings.

Fundamentals of how VR works:

A 360° immersive experience that increases dynamic engagement and realism, the immersive experience can substantially engage the user’s attention, increase interest in the game, and deepen people’s impressions.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamental Maya Uncategorised

Week 9 Moth Animation and continuous movements 2

Since the mouth shape work could have had better feedback from the teacher, I redid the blend shape this week, adding a few more different mouth shapes and the neck movement to make it look very similar to the original video.

Also, I modified some of the motion animation work, hoping to improve the inertia and movement of the characters to make it look more natural.

This is a list of my redone blend shapes:

This is the final result:

There is still a significant flaw in lip-syncing. I have been lip-syncing frame by frame, but some lip-syncing is not quite right, and if the mouth opens and closes too quickly, it makes the lip-syncing feel like a pop-up, so I want to continue to improve the lip-syncing animation next week.

The action animation final effect:

We can see in the reference that the man’s movements are just very light, so I tried to make his body movements look weighty without ruining the aesthetics of the movement.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamental Maya Uncategorised

Week 8 Mouth animations and continuous movements

This week I animated the face from the reference, using the head model I made last week and trying to recreate the mouth shape of a person speaking to the reference frame by frame.
We also animated a continuous movement. I chose a reference that I liked, drew the keyframes in 2D, understood the dynamic structure of each frame, and then animated it in 3D.

First, I found a video, rendered it as a jpg sequence in AE, imported it into Maya, and used the image sequence while importing the audio file into Maya.

Next, an animation of the blend shape is created frame by frame with the mouth shape.
Firstly, the timing of the opening and closing of the mouth is good, as most of the movement of the jaw is when a person speaks.

The next step is to make the mouth shape according to the reference.

This person does not blink, but when a person speaks, not only the mouth move but also the muscles of the face and the eyebrows, so the eyes, nose, cheekbones, cheeks, and eyebrows are animated separately.

eyes

nose

eyebrows

cheek

Final result

Motion animation


There isn’t a lot of skill in motion animation.
I import the reference into Maya, create the motion frame by frame, and adjust the curves.

This is the reference

And this is the 2D sketch.

And this is the final result.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamental Maya Uncategorised

Week6 Rigging and walking animation

This week we learned how to make joins and skin weight, blend shapes to make facial expressions more flexible, and add more detail to bones, such as bent bones in the elbows and double chins when opening the mouth.

Animating dynamics was a great way to learn how to make a walking cycle. Although it was an animation that I had already done, I still reviewed many of the details.

First, we prepare a human head. Because I wanted to make a handsome man, I made minor changes to the shape of his face.

I made joins in the side view, it has six bones, which require an understanding the human skeletal structure and musculature. I made bones for the neck and head link, bones for the whole head, and bones for the jawbone, and gave each join a corresponding name.

Select the bones that need to be moved, select bind skin in the skin, and set it to “select joins.” The bones will be colored after the bindings have been completed.

Place the eye and upper tooth parent on the head join The lower teeth parent is on the jaw join

Select the brushes in different modes, change the weights in “paint skin weight” mode and then standardize the skin weight left and right by using mirror skin weight.

Open the shape editor and use the sculpting tool to sculpt the facial expressions and muscular variations and create different blend shapes.


Fix the blend shape and join make it together and activate it:


Select the bones to be activated and open the “set driven key” to tie the blend shape to the join by adding a key to the z-axis.

And this is the walk cycle animation:

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3D Computer Animation Fundamental Maya Uncategorised

week 4 Animation

Simple walk cycle

In today’s class, we learned how to make a walk cycle for a simple model, and in the process of creating it, I found that the existing model had some defects when making the walk cycle. I discussed fixing this defect with the IK handle with our teacher, which made the model more usable.

Modify rigging:

1.Select the controller and delete it

Generate IK handle:

First select the top of the thigh joint, then the top of the foot joint.

And create a new controller, make sure the center of controllor as the same position as the joint center of the toe.

Select the controller first then the joint I want to control, and parent both of them.

Make a flat surface to walk on.

Next, make different animations of the whole body moving forward and the feet, after the general animation, add the detail animation, such as swinging and rotating upper body movements.

You’ll end up with a swaggering pillow!

Final effect:

Categories
Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Uncategorised

Week 4 Experimental film Research

Meshes of the Afternoon

Category:

American short experimental film, Deren uses multiple repetitions to show the love and betrayal between lovers and murder to end the film, illustrating Surrealism’s sense of sex and death.

Background and formal function:

Maya Deren was a leading figure in American independent cinema in the 1940s, and her creative and theoretical initiatives influenced many American experimental filmmakers. Her influence on experimental cinema has been jokingly referred to as “her avant-garde movement.”
The psychoanalytic feminism and aesthetic state of presentation in 《Mshes of afternoon》are the main artistic features of the film.

Process:


The characters that appear in the dreams are all Deren.

Mirror
 On the other hand, the Mirror Man is the ego that Deren wants to eliminate. Because it is entirely mirrored, this ego is shaped by someone else (the husband), lacks independence, and is heterogeneous in Deren’s ego system, which she (or rather they, Deren’s other selves) want to eliminate. This is implied by the appearance of the husband’s face in the mirror at the film’s end – the husband’s desires reveal this ego.

Flower
  Deren’s husband sends her flowers and places them in front of her bed, a romantic gesture that is a beautiful prison for her.

Key& Knife
  The key represents reconciliation with the “self.” The recurrence of the dream is Deren’s constant attempt to reconcile with her ego. However, she fails in her attempts. She takes the key and opens the door but cannot reconcile with “it” (the Mirror Man). So in the next cycle, the key turns into a knife.

Formal elements:
  《Mshes of afternoon》is arranged as a silent film in which the viewer can see the heroine’s delicate figure, but you cannot hear her voice, as the film abandons language and replaces it with the body language and facial expressions of women as the main narrative object

Maya Deren’s film, directed by herself, shows the sensitive heroine’s imagination, daydream-like repetition, shaky camerawork, dance-like movements, and a break with and re-establishment of conventional cinema, combining her interest in dance, primitive religion, the psychology of the subject’s imagination, and Surrealism. Maya Deren brings her interest in dance, primitive religion, the psychology of the subject’s imagination, and Surrealism to the film, giving us the philosophical meaning behind the physical phenomenon.