“•Kristin Thompson asserts that Hollywood realist conception of cel animation developed partly as a defense ‘against the disruptive properties of animation’ (p. 108). This trivializing of animation and adoption of the language of cinema made it palatable and recognisable to a classical Hollywood cinema audience.
•What properties does animation have that could potentially make it disruptive? What can animation do that live action cinema cannot? Make a list.
•How did cartoons such as Duck Amuck (Dir. Chuck Jones, 1953) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ofats differ from/or diverge from Disney realism and classical Hollywood cinema. Make a list. Consider things such as aesthetics, the sound, the performance of the characters, the style of animation and the ideology.”
——– From Week 7 powerpoint
I think the answer to this question should first start from the 12 rules of animation, animation has offsetting, aniticipation, overlapping, exaggerated deformation, and in most cases do not conform to the reality of the mechanics of imagination, based on the real but higher than the real. This is a valuable characteristic that I think animation has but movies do not.
I think Hotel Transylvania is a good example to compare to Disney animation.
The characters in Hotel Transylvania, especially Dracula, are more cartoonish and exaggerated. The character’s facial expressions, range of motion, and body shape are often exaggerated and distorted.
Moreover, Hotel Transylvania does not strictly follow the scale and structure of animals or humans in the real world, but uses geometric shapes to abstract and simplify the appearance of the characters.
This design approach makes the characters more distinct and expressive. For example, Dracula’s design, his body is often composed of simple geometric figures, such as a round head, triangular shoulders, straight limbs, etc. These designs make the role more cartoonish features, can visually quickly convey Dracula’s tall, thin, majestic.
Disney’s character designs usually go for a more natural look, trying to make the characters look like actual animals or people. Like Simba in The Lion King.
The animal designs in Hotel Transylvania are also like this, for example, this sheep is combined with some exaggerated shapes.
However, the animal character design of Disney animation is still restored in accordance with the real animal, although some cartoon stylization is done, but there is no bold deformation of shape. For example, Bambi’s fawn character maintains the basic physical characteristics of a deer.
Compared to Bambi, animated films like Hotel Transylvania use geometric shapes and exaggerated body movements more boldly, breaking the physical laws of the real world. For example, the animal characters in Hotel Transylvania like sheep are often designed with the basic characteristics of the animal highly simplified, and through exaggerated deformation to create expressive and humorous images.
I think the following animated works are different from the classic Disney style:
Mise-en-Scène, as a central concept in the art of cinema, involves the arrangement and placement of all the visual elements that can be seen in the frame.
I would like to analyze the combination of split-screen and Mise-en-Scène with narrative in the context of my favorite movie, Lord of the Rings.
Set Arrangements and Props:
For example, the strong contrast between the Hobbit village and Mordor in the movie is conveyed precisely through the set arrangement of Mise-en-Scène.
The warmth and naturalness of the sets and color palette of the Hobbit village expresses the peaceful, uncontested life of the Hobbits.
While Mordor is a gloomy, barren landscape with shades of black and gray, representing the power of evil.
Light and color
In the Mordor shots, the director uses a lot of low light and shadows to focus on the characters’ faces or key props, highlighting the sense of danger and oppression.
Rivendell（Fairy kingdom）’s lenses use brighter and more natural light, bringing more openness and serenity.
The picture below shows the white-robed wizard Gandalf, the Aragon, the dwarves, and the elves on the journey to Rohan for support.
The lens slowly pulls back as the horse moves to the left. This picture is very characteristic，which contains close-up, middle-range and long-range shots. The close scene is the nearby rocks, the middle scene is the grassland and the moving Gandalf group, and the distant scene is the boundless mountains and the twilight sky. When a scene designer constructs a scene, they will choose to do so, because the images with close-up, middle-range, and long-range scenes have more depth and space.
Shape the characteristic
For example, a very distinctive character in the Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Gollum has complicated personality traits, and his good personality often talk to the evil personality. “Gollum is a compelling case study on the internal struggle of good and evil all on his own. The Lord of the Rings provides an impressive blend of relatable individual struggles while simultaneously setting up a clear “good versus evil” scenario.” (Pak, J. (2020, December 04). Why the lord of the rings are the best fantasy films of All time. Retrieved December 06, 2021, from https://www.looper.com/289917/why-the-lord-of-the-rings-are-the-best-fantasy-films-of-all-time/)
One of the scenes was that the Gollum squatted by the water and talked to his evil personality to discuss taking the Lord of the Rings. When the evil personality speaks, the camera records the water surface, and when the good personality speaks, the camera records Gollum’s face. Objects with reflection function such as water surface and mirror are often good means for photographers to show the dual personality of the characters.
Shot and theme
This picture is from the third section of The Lord of the Rings. After Aragorn and the other people defeated Sauron and became the king, Aragorn and the people saluting the four hobbits who destroyed the Lord of the Rings.
At the beginning, the king and queen salute first, and then the people closest to the hobbit begin to salute. As the people gradually gave the respect to the four heroes, the camera zooms out.
The audience found that the small and humble hobbit was honored by so many people. This shot shows the theme: no matter how small you are, as long as you persevere with hope in your heart and never give up, you will be respected by others.
Before taking the course of animated documentary, I had a vague understanding of this category. Although I have been exposed to some documentaries in the form of animation, they have never been classified as a separate genre in my memory. However, through the study of this course, I began to realize that animation documentary is not only a form of creation, but also contains profound narrative intention and diverse expression styles.
Animated documentary is a form of media that fuses the art of animation with documentary narrative.
In my opinion, it can be mainly categorized into two types: macro-narrative and micro-focus. The former focuses on recreating historical events or restoring what happened, while the latter focuses on the experiences of individuals or small groups by focusing on them.
Macro-narrative type
The macro-narrative type of animated documentary centers on recreating the full picture of an event.
For example, Tower Official Trailer 1 (2016) – Documentary vividly recreates the University of Texas shooting through a combination of animation and historical footage.
The film not only relies on survivors’ narratives, but also utilizes animation to recreate the subjective feelings and tense atmosphere of the event so that viewers can more strongly vicariously experience the event.
This type of animated documentary is particularly good at conveying complex events, and can quickly attract viewers into the narrative situation through rich visual language.
However, I think animated documentaries also have certain limitations. Macro-narratives are difficult to balance between artistry and authenticity. Creators are sometimes unable to cover all perspectives and details, and certain narratives may appear one-sided due to personal choices. At the same time, grand themes sometimes sacrifice depth of detail, making it difficult to fully demonstrate the complexity of individual experiences.
Macro-narrative type
Unlike macro-narratives, micro-focused types of animated documentaries focus more on individual perspectives or the special experiences of marginalized groups.
For example, A is for Autism presents viewers with the sensory world and inner emotions of autistic people through their drawings and narratives. Based on real interviews and contributions from autistic people, the film breaks through the limitations of language and behavior through animation and deeply restores the feelings of marginalized groups.
I think this is a very great work because it deeply links the autistic community and the audience across the span of time and distance. While some other animated works may also reflect some of the issues and dilemmas faced by marginalized groups. Although this format has a high degree of authenticity, it also suffers from under-representation, I looked up the information and it seems that only 10% of autistic people in the author’s research were willing to be interviewed.
Class dicussion topic:
“There is little question that animated documentaries are animated films, whereas there is potential debate as to whether animation is a acceptable mode of representation for documentary’ (Honess-Roe, 3
Do you think that animation is an acceptable mode of representation for documentary? Why?”
In my opinion, animated documentary can be regarded as a form of documentary, the core of which lies in whether the creator respects the facts and creates with a serious attitude.
As a medium, the characteristics of animation will not naturally weaken the authenticity of documentary. As long as the creator aims to record objectively rather than deliberately distort facts, the legitimacy of animation as a documentary should not be denied due to the particularity of the medium.
Some people may think that animation documentaries lack the authenticity of direct shooting and are difficult to represent objective authenticity, but in fact, any documentary form will inevitably have a certain bias. This is because the documentary itself is not only a record of the event, but also the reflection of the perspective of the creator.
When the director chooses the object of record, material editing and narrative method, he will bring his subjective intention, which inevitably affects the content of the documentary. For example, in some Japanese teaching materials or documentaries, they tend to choose the historical narrative mode that is favorable to their country, and even deny the past crimes; In the Chinese documentary, we will interview survivors to tell more neglected historical truths. These choices themselves are not determined by the medium, but by the position and purpose of the creator.
Therefore, whether it is a live documentary or an animated documentary, the bias comes from the person, not the form. Animated documentaries express content through painting or animation, and are not more likely to deviate from the truth because of the creativity of the medium. On the contrary, it may be more helpful in some situations to restore facts or present a complex subjective experience.
In this summary report, as the workflows for steps 1-4 have been detailed in my previous weekly blogs, I will not elaborate on them here. I will include the links at the end of each section for reference. And also could click the menu to open the blog:
1. Initial Research and Inspiration:
This phase involves gathering references, write the concept and settings of the boss character, and research the environment styles to get more inspiration.
Story concept:
I wanted to create a short film around the themes of balance, plunder and power cycles. While I don’t tell the story directly through dialogue, I want to use character design and storyboards to convey the setting and storyline. In the initial conception, I centered my creation on the guardian of the forest, and the protagonist as an outsider broke the peace of the forest. His or her goal is to seize the power of the Spirit of nature in order to save the people of the homeland. However, the protagonist will pay the price at the end.
Theme:
In the beginning of research, I want to explore the subtle balance of the forces of nature, and human interference with natural harmony how can lead to disastrous consequences. But as the story progresses, I feel that the whole story is more like a discussion of fate, the cycle of power and plunder.
1. Benefits under the temptation of blindly follow:
in my story, I want to explore a kind of be manipulated and the price of ignorance. The protagonist’s journey is to save his or her hometown, but as the story progresses, he or she comes to realize that actions are actually serving a higher god. This ignorance causes the protagonist to become a tool in the conspiracy of others and to pay the price for blind faith.
2. Unconscious Destruction:
I also want to use the protagonist’s story to show a form of unconscious destruction. The protagonist initially acts with the intention of bringing redemption, but due to incomplete information and distorted guidance, their act of redemption ends up making things worse. For example, when they use their power to save their hometown, it brings even more destruction. What I hope to express through this is that, when we pursue good intentions, if we lack an understanding of the truth or are misled by false information, the result can often be the opposite of what we hoped for.
3. The Nature of Power:
Furthermore, I want to explore the nature of power. In the story, power is neither absolutely good nor evil, nor does it represent true redemption. Instead, it is a resource that is plundered and controlled. The cycle of this power reflects both the balance and destruction of the natural ecosystem, while also mirroring humanity’s eternal desire for control and survival. Through this theme, I hope to guide the audience to reflect on the cost of power and how our thirst for it influences our relationship with both ourselves and the environment.
Therefore, through these themes, I hope to present a dangerous world filled with contradictions and conspiracies. As the protagonist pursues power or redemption, they gradually uncover the hidden manipulation and costs behind it.
•Outsiders and Predators vs. Native cultures and resources
•Princess Mononoke
– great power can lead to consequences like exploitation and backlash
When I started this project, I was thinking about how to bring elements from some of my favorite works into my own work. For example, games like Dark Souls, with their dark fantasy themes, inspired me a lot. I really admire the way they tell deep and symbolic stories. On the other hand, the Chinese myth of ‘Kuafu Chasing the Sun’ showed me how traditional stories interpret nature, which made me interested in themes of balance and power. Moreover, works like Jibaro gives me inspiration of the story between Outsiders and Predators with Native cultures and resources. Additionally, works like Princess Mononoke made me think about how great power can lead to consequences like exploitation and backlash. These inspirations together shaped the worldview I want to express.
In this part, I draw sketches of the scenes and boss, planning the timeline of the whole process, and developing the storyboard for each shot.
Timeline:
Storyboard:
The format and narrative style of the short film:
I plan to create a short film consisting of five shots. These shots will resemble CG trailers or promotional videos from games and will present the story in fragments of memories, alternating between the past and the present. Through this non-linear narrative approach, I aim to let the audience gradually piece together the background of the entire story.
However, due to time constraints, I will only be able to produce the shot where the protagonist meets the boss.
Background of the story
It is a world of desolation and brokenness, where gods fight each other for power but refuse to fulfill their responsibilities. In this forest, the Spirit of Nature was once the guardian, controlling two complementary forces – life and death. These two powers balanced each other and maintained the eco-system of the forest. However, many years ago, a mysterious god seriously injured the Spirit of Nature and took away its power over death. Since then, the balance between life and death has been changed, and the ecology of this forest has become unbalanced.
Life became too abundant to come to an end. The creatures can’t die, including humans and animals, after a long period of time, their minds and intelligences are gradually blurred and reduced to the existence of chaotic consciousness.
The protagonist is an outsider from a faraway land, and in order to save the people of his or her homeland, he (or she) follows the guidance to the forest in an attempt to seize the power of life controlled by the Spirit of Nature. However, the protagonist is unaware of the limitations of this power, and unaware that his mission is in fact an elaborate deception designed by a higher god. He is just a pawn, driven and seduced by an unknown force, and is forced to collect the remaining power of the Spirit of Nature.
I focused the short film on the boss, which is a character full of tragedy. Despite its incredible power, it can’t escape the fate of being manipulated and utilized by the higher gods. Realizing this, the boss chooses to banish itself, sitting alone in the depths of a cave at the edge of the forest, waiting for those who seek its power to come and defeat it.
In the short film, the protagonist is shown from the point of view of the camera, becoming the observer of the narrative. In the storyline beyond this short film, the protagonist will also explore and fight, gradually realizing the true intentions and meaning of those “guides”, and take this power to challenge the higher gods who try to manipulate him or her.
3. Boss Model Creation:
In this part, I craft the 3D model of the boss, including sculpting, cutting uvs, texturing, and rigging.
Design Concept and Details:
I used an asymmetric design. The hole in its chest hints at the tragic past of having its “death power” taken away. I wanted to demonstrate both vulnerability and strength in the boss.
On one side of its chest, I designed a rock-like, hard material to symbolize its power and resilience. On the other side, there are layers of rigid structures and wounds that resemble organic healing, as if flesh and blood are desperately growing back.
I wanted to show its powerful self-healing ability while also show its limitations—no matter how strong it is, the chest wound remains unhealed, as it is a fatal injury inflicted by another deity.
Summary of my work flow:
Also, you can view detail pictures and process in the blogs below:
In this step, I Built the environment in UE5, including placing assets, arranging the scene layout, and setting up the basic world-building elements such as terrain, objects, and structures.
In this part, I Adjusted the lighting setup to create the appropriate mood for the scene, positioning the camera to guide the viewer’s focus, and I try to make the composition supports the story and narrative progression.(Although there is no dialogue, I want to reflect my background and narrative through some scenes, and I will also write some scenes scripts that I have to abandon due to time reasons in this part)
Set up the camera angles for the corridor-to-wide-shot sequence.
Make adjustments to the previously captured shots and render them again.
Edit the footage and synchronize it with suitable music.
Version 3.1:
The default playback is set to low quality, but you can switch to high quality for a better viewing experience.
In this shot, there are a few issues:
Due to texture streaming, the visuals suddenly became blurry at certain moments during rendering.
The corridor scene is overly dark, making it difficult to see the surrounding environment. I think I need to add some faint lighting to slightly illuminate the structure.
Version 3.2:
Version 3.3:
Both of these youtube accounts are mine, and since I upload too many videos a day, I can only use this account to continue uploading.
In version 3.3, I adjusted the atmosphere of the scene, the fog, and added lighting to the corridor.
Then, I merged the two shots, edited them, and added background music.
Demo with background music:
Then, I discussed the demo with my teacher and received very helpful feedback and insights, which I will implement before the final submission:
The camera has a moment of acceleration when moving through the corridor, which looks a bit abrupt. I need to adjust the camera’s curve.
2. When entering the cave, the eyes transition from a dark environment to a well-lit one, which might be uncomfortable at first. I can adjust the exposure and focal length to achieve this effect, similar to James Turrell’s works.
Art work by James TurrelArt work by James Turrel
3. In the wide shot, I should focus more on the statue, with the boss appearing as a black silhouette in the background. Since there will be a close-up of the boss later, I need to add more lighting details to the statue so that the viewer’s attention isn’t distracted by the light from the cave entrance, and I can reference how to use the light to create contrast and focus from some art works from Caravaggio’s paintings.
The Calling of Saint Matthew, by Caravaggio
4. For the close-up shot of the boss, I can add more detail to the base, such as scattered rocks and grass.
5. When the boss opens its eyes, I will lower the brightness of the rocks behind it, allowing the light from its eyes to have a subtle color influence on the environment.
I discussed this shot with my teacher and received very helpful feedback:
The pacing of the shot is a bit slow.
The focus has issues.
When the camera passes through the statue, there is clipping, which affects the visual experience.
While the boss is lit, there are no shadows on the ground, which feels inconsistent.
The boss’s animation, where it turns its head and opens its eyes simultaneously, makes it hard for the audience to identify the primary movement.
I also identified some issues myself, such as:
Due to the volumetric fog, the dark areas in the distance appear too gray and lack sufficient depth, resulting in weak overall contrast between light and shadow in the scene.
When the boss sits cross-legged, the leg model deforms noticeably. I need to adjust this using blend shapes.
The sky behind the boss looks too plain, and the entire scene, including the animation, feels overly static. To enhance the sense of depth and introduce some dynamism, I plan to add birds and distant snowy mountains.
After the modification, I rendered the second version:
Due to the backstory, this boss has been meditating in the cave ever since its power over death was stolen. It neither resists nor continues to fulfill its original duties. Originally, the balance between life and death attracted many explorers to this forest. However, with the power of death taken away, the power of life is left unchecked. Under its influence, the forest’s inhabitants and all living beings cannot experience a proper death.
The protagonist, as the challenger and corrector, is actually being used by a higher deity. Since they cannot directly compel the boss to resume its duties, they tempt the protagonist with the boss’s remaining powers, essentially turning the protagonist into a collector. This power exerts a slow, irreversible influence on the area within a certain radius centered on its wielder. Rather than functioning as a power, iy seems like a moving curse.
According to the setting, after seizing the power of life, the protagonist begins to question whether they are truly walking a path of his or her own choosing.
In this scene, I want to convey the boss’s sense of abandonment and its inevitable “eaten”.
So, this isn’t exactly a highly optimistic worldview, and the boss, as a deity, isn’t as unattainable as one might imagine. It’s merely another piece on the chessboard. Perhaps influenced by Souls-like games, I often enjoy creating worlds that aren’t entirely bright or hopeful. This boss isn’t a noble god; it’s simply a being with extraordinary power, coveted by various forces, reduced to a mere pawn in their schemes. Thus, it remains in this desolate cavern, awaiting the one who will eventually claim its life.
Since the overall scene is very dark, the boss lacks sufficient lighting, leading to a loss of detail. To address this, I separated the scene models and lighting into Channel 1 and placed the boss model and its lighting into Channel 2. Additionally, I positioned around eight area lights around the boss to create dynamic lighting effects.
I aim to create the impression that when the boss opens its eyes, the light from its eyes illuminates its face. Furthermore, as the boss awakens, its body will emit a glowing energy effect.
Set up the white-box model for the scene, determining the camera position and the overall layout of the scene.
Replace the polygons with FAB assets, add environmental fog, and finalize the lighting setup.
Create a sketch of the scene layout：
I initially built the sketch in the classroom, but the classroom computer doesn’t have C4D, so I had to use Maya instead. While Maya is good for general modeling, it’s not as efficient for quickly setting up large scenes compared to C4D. This is because if the scale is set too large, parts of the model get hidden and become invisible.
Then, I imported the Maya scene into C4D and continued adjusting the layout. I enabled the camera’s rule-of-thirds grid, which helped me better position the objects.
My draft of the scene
In the overall scene, I made some adjustments based on the sketch. I wanted to capture the moment where the protagonist walks through a corridor and then reaches the cave, so I added a narrow corridor. As seen, the scene consists of several sections: the farthest and highest point is where the boss sits, followed by a ruined staircase. In front of the staircase is a body of water, along with statues and columns. For the foreground, I plan to add some grass and rocks.
Import into UE5:
Then I use data smith to import the scene and camera position into UE5. And strat to build the scene:
During this week, I need to rig the model of this character.
Since the model is not only asymmetrical but also has a high polycount, and the hole in the chest complicates weight painting, I will first use a plugin to reduce the polycount, retopologize the model, and remove the chest structure, replacing it with a flat surface.
Place the rig
Create cage(deform – cage – create) as a second low model for the low model. This allows the weights to be copied onto the lower module later.
Since the generated cage is too thick and overlaps around the fingers, I need to adjust its size. Then copy the weight of cage to our low modle.
Paint and adjust the weight:
Copy the weight in low model to the model with more ploygons, and adjust the weight.
Use blend shape to make the eyelid close
I encountered a serious issue: when sitting cross-legged, the thigh area stretches too much and twists, creating a very odd appearance. I need to switch from classic linear to dual quaternion and then use blend shape with smooth to adjust the shape of the model.
This week, I imported the model into sp to bake the high mold and paint the material.
Bake the model:
Materials of the boss:
Since recording the screen while painting the textures causes lag and the model has a high polycount, I will take screenshots to showcase the final result and the overall texture workflow.
The image above shows the texture I painted for the first time, which has a matte finish but looks rather monotonous. Therefore, I decided to incorporate a mix of organic and inorganic elements. I made some adjustments:
Balancing the added elements during painting is crucial because certain textures and bumps can alter the original sculpted structure. However, I had to make some compromises in this process to ensure the details enhance the model without overwhelming or distorting the sculpted form.
Screen shot in Substance Painter
When painting the head’s texture, I need to consider various factors. According to the boss’s backstory, as a deity that has been sitting still for centuries, its body will have dust accumulated in the crevices, and the entire body has a rough texture. Considering the humid environment of the cave, moss would grow on it, and the surface of its body would have a layer of damp moisture. Therefore, I added these effects to reflect those conditions.
Since no natural creature is perfectly symmetrical, I’ve kept symmetry off both in the design and texture painting. This irregularity adds to the realism.
For the chest, I want to create a layered structure on the right side, with elements like veins or organic features attaching to it. On the left side, I plan to paint textures resembling rock and glowing jade.
For the abdomen and arms, I want to maintain a texture that combines hardness like rock or wood, with patterns resembling tree bark and subtle bumps to emphasize its organic, yet rugged, nature.
